Racing and motorsports altogether have been the lifelines of many petrol heads and speed demons in the industry. The Sepang International Circuit has been a jewel of racing in many different series and now, they’ve elevated themselves into a whole new era; night racing! (more…)
Speaking of Zaqhwan Zaidi and the Honda Asia-Dream Racing team’s great result in last weekend’s Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race, the FIM has confirmed the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) as one of the venues for the 2019 and 2020 FIM Endurance World Championship (FIM EWC).
Zaqhwan Zaidi and Honda Asia-Dream Racing Team Celebrates P7 at Suzuka 8-Hours Endurance
The announcement was made during the Suzuka 8-Hours race, along with a change in the FIM EWC’s program.
The SIC round will serve as a qualifying event for the Grand Finale at Suzuka, Japan. It will have the same format as the Suzuka 8-Hours, including a Superpole Top 10 Trial and ends after nightfall. That means Asian teams who wish to take part in the Suzuka event will have to qualify through the SIC round. This is to create a parity for the FIM EWC’s permanent teams. The permanent and Japanese teams will be invited to SIC and the cost will be covered by Eurosport Events.
Also, as we mentioned earlier about coverage, the Discovery Group had stepped in to provide televised coverage on all five continents.
Sepang International Circuit CEO, Dato’ Ahmad Razlan Razali said, “Based on a public survey that SIC conducted for 3 months last year, we are pleased that this FIM EWC series was voted by Malaysians as an event they would like to see at SIC as a replacement for Formula One. We are also pleased that the Sepang International Circuit will be the qualification round for Japanese and Asian teams for the grand finale at the iconic Suzuka 8-Hours.”
The SIC has just completed its floodlighting project, allowing for night races. Dato’ Ahmad Razlan also hinted at having the 2019 SIC MotoGP team’s riders taking part in the event. (Please click on the link below for more information on SIC’s MotoGP team.)
This is very exciting news for Malaysian motorcycle sports fans, indeed. It is time we pit our national riders against the world. It’ll also be interesting to foresee the Malaysian Superbike Championship teams taking part in this prestigious FIM Endurance World Championship event.
The FIM EWC Sepang round will be held on 7th December 2019.
As opposed to the previous day (Saturday, 28th July 2018), Sunday started out bright and sunny for the final day of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) Round 2. Rain was forecast for the weekend, but the thick clouds had thankfully only surrounded the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) without encroaching its airspace.
Without Free Practice, the hectic schedule was bumped up to earlier times of the day. Also, the races for all classes were shifted to different times to break some of the familiarities the riders may have developed.
The Supersport riders were the first to head out at 10am. The sun had heated up the tarmac enough for anyone to feel the radiating off it.
Muhammad Helmi Azman (#32) of SCK Rapido Hi-Rev Honda Racing had won Race 1 on Saturday and he was determined to do the same for today.
He shot straight out of his grid position into Turn One in front of the field, while national Moto3 rider, Adam Norrodin (#70) of SIC Junior ZK Racing Team was caught in a battle with 4 other riders.
Muhammad Helmi didn’t wait around and consolidated his lead by circulating 1.3 seconds per lap faster than the 2nd-placed, and eventually recording the fastest lap time of 2:12.451. He only backed off with 3 laps to go.
Adam had fought his way up to 4th and had to fight hard with Liam Taylor MacDonald (#37) from New Zealand. Adam eventually passed MacDonald and started to set fast times in an attempt to break free. This he did and held on to take the 2nd step on the podium, 10 seconds behind Muhammad Helmi while MacDonald cross the line another 10 seconds behind Adam.
The heat took its toll on tyres as the bikes were visibly sliding around towards the end of the race.
It was another exciting race to look forward to after the previous day’s hot track action. But it turned out to be even more frenetic than expected.
First, championship leader Surya Narayana (#9) from Indonesia suffered a mechanical problem, causing his bike to almost crash in Turn 8.
That set the field loose to set up their pace and battle hard among themselves. Surya’s Promax NJT IKBN Jitra Racing teammate Luth Harith B. Erwan (#71) rode hard and pulled away on the last lap by recording the fastest lap of the race the process to win by a mere 1.748 seconds in front of Jailani Kosman (#55). Muhammad Aiman Thiruddin followed home in 3rd under a second behind Jailani (#72).
There some serious action down the field with riders showing each other with elbows and knees. Another rider was run off the track as they headed down the Start/Finish straight.
Azroy Hakeen (#32) ran away with the previous day’s race, but it was not to be on Sunday.
He had a lightning start and was far ahead of everyone else after Lap 1 and it looked as if Race 2 was in his pocket.
Unbeknownst to him, Amirul Hafiq Azmi (#80) was making his way up the field after a poor qualifying spot. He picked off one rider after another but had to fight through from 5th to 2nd position. He then started to hunt down Azroy after dispensing with the others.
Amirul rode an incredible race and was on Azroy’s tail by the 5th lap. However, the former shadowed the lead rider closely. It was apparent that Azroy’s speed was in Sector 1, as he opened up a gap everytime after they passed Turns 1 to 3, but Amirul would catch back up and started to force Azroy into a mistake.
The real chance came on the last lap as Azroy appeared to have braked too early for Turn Four. Amirul outbraked his rival and went straight into the lead and win. As a side note, the TOC-HKM Racing Team are the defending champions in this 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) series.
In 3rd was Ahmad Khan who had to battle with 3 riders to finally earn his podium position.
If the World Moto3 Championship provided all the thrills during MotoGP weekend, the ATC probably had more of it. These plucky teens had no fear and the rode with their hearts on their sleeves. And oh, what a welcomed addition to the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) it was!
There were numerous lead changes in Lap 1 alone, but Haruki Noguchi (#9) managed to break away when Australian Bill Van Eerde (#19) and Takuma Matsuyama (#11) started battling with each other. But Ven Eerde got the better of Matsuyama and took off, recording a blistering 2:18.890 lap time, leaving the latter to fall into the grasp of fast approaching Sho Nishimura (#3).
As Van Eerde chased down Noguchi, Nishimura chased down Van Eerde to set up a three-way battle for the win. The riders behind Noguchi must be thinking, “You can run but you can’t hide.”
Nishimura then pulled off an amazing pass on both riders to lead into Sector 4 of the last lap. With Noguchi and Van Eerde in a slipstream train, Nishimura hung on the left side of the backstraight leading to the final Turn 15, which would set up a tight, defensive line through the corner.
As they sat up to brake for the final turn, Van Eerde swung to his right to go back onto the normal racing line and swung into the corner. His audacious move served to block-pass Noguchi and put him directly in Nishimura’s slipstream as they blasted toward the finish line.
Van Eerde’s gamble worked as he slingshot past Nishimura to win by just 0.012 second, with Noguchi 0.102 second behind Nishimura for 3rd.
This was why we decided to refer to ATC as “Asian Teen Combat.”
Also of interesting note, Van Eerde campaigned in a few Asian RC Cup races last year.
It was beyond doubt that Azlan Shah Kamuruzaman (#25) and Chia Motor PJ Kawasaki were the combination to beat in the Superbike category of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) category. Their experience and combination had netted them the championship lead from Round 1, and their domination continued into Round 2 by capturing the Pole Position and Race 1 win on Saturday.
Race 2 started with Azlan’s taking the holeshot from his closest rival, Rajini Krishnan (#67) from India into Turn 1. But Azlan missed his braking marker and almost ran into Turn 9’s gravel trap and allowed Rajini into the lead.
Azlan was still in 2nd as they started Lap 2 but it was now Rajini’s turn to overshoot into Turn 9’s gravel trap, allowing Azlan to go past and he (Rajini dropped to 5th place).
From that point on, Azlan turned in lap times in the low-2:10s, faster than everyone else.
In the meantime, Amirul Hafiq Azmi (#80) of TOC-HKM Racing Team fought up the field to hunt down Swiss rider Jonathan Serrapica (#48) for 2nd position. Amirul passed Serrapica into Turn 7 on Lap 6.
Rajini had recomposed himself at this point and overtook Serrapica on Lap 8 and chased down Amirul and pass him Lap 9 into 2nd position.
With Azlan nearly 20 seconds in the lead, it seemed that Rajini will come home in 2nd. But alas, he ran off Turn 9 again on the very last lap and was passed by both Amirul who took 2nd and Serrapica 3rd places, respectively, to finish 4th.
All six competitors started the race but two riders crashed out to leaving the four remaining riders to race it out.
in the end, Zulkiply Yahya (#12) prevailed to win, followed by Sarul Fahmi Mohd. Zaini (#11) in 2nd and Syamsul Bakhtiar Esa (#14) in 3rd.
The conclusion of the race wrapped up MSBK 2018 Round 2.
The 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship Round 2 saw some unforgettable action over the entire weekend. The addition of the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup and TOC Desmo Cup certainly brought lots more attraction and prestige to the series.
In the two-month hiatus, it seemed that many teams have improved their level by very much to make most of the races exciting affairs. The bikes were also visibly better prepared than in Round 1.
The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) had also tightened their security protocols for Round 2, after having too many friends and relatives of riders and teams in the paddock during the Round 1. There were incidences of young children running across the hot pit road during that race. A less crowded paddock also meant that the teams could focus more on their business.
But there are a couple of things we could gripe about.
Still, it was a great weekend as the weather held up for the races. Round 3 of the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) is from 14th to 16th September 2018 at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC). See you there!
If there’s any indication of tomorrow, today’s (Saturday 28th July 2018) track action in the 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) Round 2 at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) demonstrated just how much excitement will be in store tomorrow (29th July 2018).
The morning started with another torrential downpour like the one during Round 1, forcing the riders to go out on Pirelli Diablo Rain tyres and getting fully drenched. They had to do so to gather setup data in case the rain continued throughout the day.
Of important note, SIC has revised the race program for the MSBK series, featuring Free Practie and Qualifying on Friday, Race 1 on Saturday and Race 2 on Sunday for all classes apart from the TOC Desmo Cup.
The ATC riders were the first to hit the track for Race 1 at 1pm. The rain had stopped by this point and the track was drying quickly.
Characteristic of the ATC, the teenagers fought tooth and nail from the green light. However, Mario Aji (#7) from Indonesia and Bill Van Eerde from Australia (#19) managed to break free of the chasing pack halfway through the race.
The pair then started trading the lead with some almost impossible and heart-stopping passes. However, Aji turned up the pace in the last few laps (recording his best on the final and 13th lap) to keep Eerde at arm’s length, to finish 1st and 2nd, respectively.
In 3rd was Malaysian Danial Sharil (#21) who did well to fight off the other riders and found space to ride a steady race to finish 5 seconds ahead of the 4th place man, Lucky Hendriansya (#13) also from Indonesia.
This class is open specifically for Ducati owners to test their skills in a competitive environment. As mentioned earlier, the Desmo owners went out for Qualifying today. It was an awesome sight and aural pleasure to hear the Thundering Twins roaring around the Sepang International Circuit.
Syamsul Bakhtiar Esa (#14) on a Ducati 1198 recorded the fastest lap of 2:35.576 and astounding 8.166 seconds faster than 2nd placed qualifier Zulkiply Yahya (#12) on a Ducati 1098. 3rd fastest was Muhammad Danial Afiq Zamry (#98) on a Ducati 1198.
It was an important affair for both the Desmo Owners Club and TOC Automotive College as TOC supplied the technician workforce which consisted of their lecturers and students, allowing them to get their hands on racebikes as part of their education. Desmo Cup participants, on the other hand, have experienced lecturers working on their bikes.
The TOC Desmo Cup race will be held tomorrow.
The big news prior to this weekend was Malaysia’s current Moto3 rider, Adam Norrodin would be racing in this 600cc class.
But Muhammad Helmi Azman (#32) had different plans as he blasted into the lead when the red lights went out, trailed by Adam and the rest of the field. As the race progressed, Helmi kept his blistering pace to open up a huge lead, which he held on to win the race.
Fakhrusy Syarikin Rostam (#66) had been shadowing Adam for many laps until he overtook the latter with a daring move into Turn One. The pair then started trading places until the last lap when Adam managed to capitalize.
Adam came home 2nd with Rostam less than 0.2 second behind him.
It’s time for the ultra-competitive, hence ultra-entertaining Super 250 class in mid-afternoon. Competition is extremely close (and cutthroat) as the bikes are closely matched in terms of horsepower, meaning one has to work really hard to break away.
And fought they did, from even before they started braking for Turn One on the opening lap! The competitors banged fairings and elbows into Turns One and Two, almost causing a couple of crashes.
Championship leader, Indonesian Surya Narayana (#9) fought his way through to lead from Turn Two and held on to the finish, although he was hounded closely Jailani Kosma (#71) from Malaysia. Narayana kept his nerve and crossed the finish line as the winner with Kosma 0.5 second behind.
There was pandemonium as the riders fought each other hard, until Yokeshwaran K (#6) from India crashed hard just after the apex for Turn Two, causing the field to slow down and string out.
Malaysian Luth Harith B. Erwan (#38) picked up the final podium spot.
As opposed to Supersport, the Superstock class consists of 1000cc sportbikes.
Azroy Hakeem’s (#5) aggression worked well to allow him to decimate the field of 17 riders. He crossed the line a full 30 seconds faster than Amirul Hafiq Azmi (#80) of TOC-HKM Racing Team in 2nd.
Ahmad Khan (#66) came home in 3rd.
With so many races lined up throughout the day, the premier Superbike class started at 6.15pm. The weather had cooled tremendously by this point, much to the relieve of the riders and tyres.
Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (#25) of Chia PJ Kawasaki knew he had to contend with MSBK’s ex-champion, Rajini Krishnan (#67) who hails from India.
Indeed, the two rode in close formation at the head of the field from the start, with Rajini poised to capitalize on Azlan’s mistakes. Their teams and spectators held their bated breath as Rajini started to close the gap. The pass was going to happen soon.
But Azlan dug deep into his experience in the Asia Road Racing series and turned on his beast mode and started attacking every corner aggressively to open up an immense lead.
That forced Rajini to ride safe and he backed off his pace by the end of the race as he has a comfortable cushion over Jonathan Serrapica (#48) from Switzerland.
The trio completed the race in that order.
It was however, a day to forget for TOC-HKM Racing Team as both riders crashed in the race. Amirul Hafiq Azmi was holding on in 3rd when crashed heavily, destroying the bike. Fortunately, he was okay. His teammate and championship leader, Muhammad Jamalul Tarmizi (#89) was fighting for 4th place with Michael Muesel (#78) of Thailand when the former low-sided into the gravel trap. He was able to remount his bike and finished in 15th for a single point.
The 2018 Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) Round 2 concludes tomorrow.
Malaysia’s current World Moto3 rider, Muhammad Adam Norrodin, who is currently on MotoGP summer break, will put his time at home to effective use by taking part at the Pirelli Malaysia Superbike Championship (MSBK) 2018, which enters its much-awaited second round this weekend in Sepang International Circuit (SIC).
Adam will contest in the 600cc Supersport Championship. His participation in the national championship is made possible through the hard work of his racing friend and ZK Racing team owner, Muhammad Zulfahmi Khairuddin, who has flown the Jalur Gemilang in the 125cc, Moto3, Supersports World Championship and most recently, the Moto2 World Championship with SIC Racing Team.
“I am really looking forward to the weekend; especially with the opportunity to race side by side with my brother, Muhammad Ibrahim Norrodin under ZK Racing. I am using this event to prepare myself better for the second half of this 2018 Moto3 season. I would like to thank ZK Racing for this chance and I aim to make full use of this opportunity to do my very best for the best result possible,” Adam said when asked to comment on this weekend’s race.
Commenting on Adam’s participation, Zulfahmi said that it is truly an honour for his newly-formed racing team to have Adam and his SIC Racing Team mechanic, Habibtullah Fuad Mohamad in his team this weekend.
“I hope that my other riders will take this opportunity to learn as much as possible from Adam. Similarly, for the team crew, they can learn from Habib with his experience; preparing the bike for a very challenging world championship. Hopefully, everything works well and ZK Racing can achieve good results this weekend,” said Zulfahmi.
The MSBK enters its second round after a lengthy break with Round 1 held in mid-May. Apart from the Supersports Championship, which is run based on rules of the 600cc WSBK.
MSBK Round 2 will also feature the opening round of the Desmo Ducati and Round 3 of the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup apart from the traditional MSBK categories of the Superbike, Superstock and the Super 250.
After races at the Qatar Grand Prix in Losail and WSBK Thailand in Buriram, the Asia Talent Cup (ATC) is currently topped by Japanese youngster, Haruki Noguchi. He has a total haul of 95 points – courtesy of three wins and one second place after four races; holding a 25-point advantage over Australian Bill Van Eerde, who has 70 points. Mario Aji of Indonesia is third with 53 points. ATC is a junior development programme backed by the MotoGP worldwide rights holder, Dorna. Danial Shahril is the highest placed Malaysian in a field of 20 riders in 5th place; with a total haul of 35 points; trailing fourth placed Afridza Munandar of Indonesia by 13 points. Another Malaysian, Ibrahim Pawi – the younger brother of Moto2 rider Khairul Idham Pawi – is 15th in the championship standings with 14 points.
As for the TOC Desmo Cup 2018, it is organised by Desmo Owners Club Malaysia in collaboration with TOC Automotive College (TOC). The new season takes off this weekend for a three-leg championship this year. Riders in the competition are expected to be racing Ducati models such as the newly-launched Panigale V4, Panigale 899, Panigale 1299, Panigale 1199, Panigale 959, 848, 1098, and 1198. Each round will only feature a single 10-lap race around the 5.543-km MotoGP track.
The MSBK event officially opens this Friday with free practice sessions with qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday. Race 2 is on Sunday.
Fans can catch all the actions for free from the Main Grandstand. Fans can also purchase Paddock passes to access to the Paddock area and view from the covered rooftop of the Pit Building. The passes will be sold at the Paddock entrance. Fans can also follow the races LIVE on SIC’s Facebook. After the opening round of the MSBK, viewers have reached more than 417,813 people.
Friday, 27 July 2018
1130 hrs – 1200 hrs Idemitsu ATC Free Practice 1
1215 hrs – 1245 hrs Supersport Free Practice
Break / Friday Prayer
1415 hrs – 1445 hrs Super 250 Free Practice
1500 hrs – 1530 hrs Superstock Free Practice
1545 hrs – 1615 hrs Idemitsu ATC Free Practice 2
1630 hrs – 1700 hrs Superbike Free Practice
1715 hrs – 1745 hrs TOC Desmo Cup Free Practice
Saturday, 28 July 2018
0915 hrs – 0945 hrs Idemitsu ATC Qualifying
1000 hrs – 1030 hrs Supersport Qualifying
1045 hrs – 1115 hrs Super 250 Qualifying
1130 hrs – 1200 hrs Superstock Qualifying
1215 hrs – 1245 hrs Superbike Qualifying
1310 hrs – 1345 hrs Idemitsu ATC Race 1 (13 laps)
1415 hrs – 1445 hrs TOC Desmo Cup Qualifying
1510 hrs – 1550 hrs Supersport Race 1 (12 laps)
1615 hrs – 1645 hrs Super 250 Race 1 (8 laps)
1710 hrs – 1750 hrs Superstock Race 1 (12 laps)
1815 hrs – 1845 hrs Superbike Race 1 (12 laps)
Sunday, 29th July 2018
1000 hrs – 1040 hrs Supersport Race 2 (12 laps)
1105 hrs – 1135 hrs Super 250 Race 2 (8 laps)
1200 hrs – 1240 hrs Superstock Race 2 (12 laps)
1305 hrs – 1345 hrs Idemitsu ATC Race 2 (13 laps)
1415 hrs – 1455 hrs Superbike Race 2 (12 laps)
1515 hrs – 1555 hrs TOC Desmo Cup Race (10 laps)
The Desmo Owners Club Malaysia (DOCM) will be hosting the first round of the TOC Desmo Cup 2018 during the second round of the Malaysian Superbike Championship.
However, unlike the MSC series which has two race rounds per weekend, the TOC Desmo Cup will only race once in a 10 lap race format.
Taking place on the 27,28 and 29 of July at the Sepang International Circuit, the 2018 installation of the TOC Desmo Cup sees DOCM partnering the TOC Automotive College who comes on board as the title sponsor of the series.
Participants taking part in the series will be racing on their own bikes and the series is open to those riding the Ducati 848, Panigale 899 and 959, the 1098, 1198, Panigale 1199, 1299 and the brand-new Panigale V4.
Entry fee to the series is set at just RM500, while the price is as follows:
Race winners:
– 1st RM600 and trophy
– 2nd RM500 and trophy
– 3rd RM400 and trophy
– 4th trophy only
– 5th trophy only
Overall season championship prize money as follows:
– Overall points champion RM3000 and thropy
– Runners up champion RM2500 and trophy
– 3rd Overall RM2000 and trophy
– 4th Overall RM1500 and trophy
– 5th Overall RM1000 and trophy
The series will receive technical support from Ducati Malaysia who will be sending their trained mechanics to work on bikes. Lubricants will be supplied by Toyo Lubes while Kratos Motorsport, the distributor of K-Tec suspensions in Malaysia, will offer ride and handling support to all riders.
All riders intending to join the series must have a valid AAM license to take part in the races.
The following is the MSBK TOC Desmo Cup Supersport and Superstock Calendar:
– Round 1 : July 27th, 28th and 29th 2018
– Round 2: September 14th, 15th,16th 2018
– Round 3 and 4 : October 5th, 6th, 7th 2018
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