As the 31 riders assembled on the congested grid for the start of Race 1, a clean start brought polesitter Haziq into the lead at Turn 1 with the rest of the grid in hot pursuit. The intensity of the title chase had ramped up the action in the Underbone 150cc Race 1. At the end of the first lap, the top 11 riders came across the finish line within the same second.
Unfortunately for championship leader Mohd Akid Aziz, mechanical failure forced him out of the race on Lap 2. More carnage ensued on the same lap when Mohammad Murobbil Vitoni, Syahrul Amin, Richard Taroreh and Muhamad Iqbal Abdul Malek got involved in a big pile-up at Turn 4. Thankfully, all the riders were able to walk away from the crash.
Seasoned campaigner Ahmad Fazli Sham used every bit of skill in his arsenal to lead the group across the finish line for most of the eight-lap race. Three laps to go, Fazli continued to mix things up at the front, championship hopeful McKinley Kyle Paz was meanwhile tucked into the front group on P6.
McKinley’s team mate Fernando Masato sprung a surprise on the last lap when he stormed past Fazli and into the lead. The Filipino rider held on to his advantage for two more corners but lost the lead to Fazli as they exited Turn 3. Team tactics came into play at this point when the ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team riders bunched up together to squeeze Masato out of the front. Fazli got onto the lead with the aid of their slipstream.
Another crash at the same corner gave Fazli the space he needed to pull ahead of the group. The Malaysian rider kept his momentum for the rest of the final lap and notched his second win of the season. Wahyu Aji Trilaksana made it a ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team 1-2 when he crossed the line in second place. Fernando Masato settled for third place.
McKinley Kyle Paz took control of the title chase when he finished tenth in Race 1. McKinley leading Akid by only two-points. The Underbone 150 title chase now down to five riders including Haziq Fairues, Ahmad Fazli Sham and Aldi Satya Mahendra ahead of the final race on Sunday.
Underbone 150 Race 2
McKinley Kyle Paz was disappointed not to qualify on the front row but in the Underbone class, the UMA Racing Yamaha Philippine Team rider knew that grid position is not everything. The 18-year-old, who was one of five riders still in the running for the 2019 title, knew that all he had to do was hunker down within the front group and bide his time for a last lap, last corner attack.
However, in the sheer unpredictability that is so characteristic of Underbone racing, pre-drawn plans and strategy went flying out the window the moment the 8-lap race was flagged off. Haziq Fairues and Akid Aziz were among the early leaders at the start of Race 2. At the end of Lap 1, 28 out of 31 were still bunched up in one big group, attacking the corners six abreast.
The first title contender to drop out of the race was Aldi Satya Mahendra. Aldi crashed out of the last turn along with Mohd Rozaiman Said. Haziq Fairues was very nearly swept along by the incident and lost eight positions to drop down to the back of the group.
On Lap 4, championship leader Akid Aziz retired from the race, his title hunt derailed again by mechanical failure. This left 20 riders in the leading charge, among them, McKinley Kyle Paz, Ahmad Fazli Sham, and Haziq Fairues.
McKinley’s bid for the title faltered when he crashed in the mid-section of the 4.554km circuit. Refusing to give up, the young Filipino rider was back on his bike in a flash even though he had lost touch with the front pack.
The leading group had not shrunk noticeably by the final lap. With the notorious Buriram Turn 12 looming, Ahmad Fazli Sham began to slipstream his way past Richie Taroreh, Mohd Izzat Zaidi and Wawan Wello. The seasoned campaigner was all set to take control of the final corner until he got skittled by Syahrul Amin.
Mohd Izzat Zaidi led the group across the finish line but was later penalised for exceeding the track limit at the last corner. Izzat’s penalty handed the win to Richie Taroreh who claimed his first win of the season with 16’23.670s. Wawan Wello and Wahyu Aji Trilaksana made it an all-Indonesian clean sweep in the Underbone 150 Race 2.
15 seconds behind, McKinley Kyle Paz finished just outside of the points in 16th place. Clueless about what had happened in front of him, the disappointed young rider had no idea that his title contenders had been taken out one by one in the intensity of the race. It was only when he returned, dejected, to the pits that he found out he had officially entered the history books as the first Filipino rider to become the FIM Asian Underbone 150cc champion with 121 points to his name.
Akid Aziz, despite two DNF finishes in the final round, stayed in second overall with 119 points while his team mate Haziq Fairues closed the season in third with 113 points.
While the UMA Racing Yamaha riders were busy celebrating their personal achievements, the ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team had quietly triumphed over UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor Asia Team in the UB150 Team Awards.
Thanks to Wahyu’s steady performance, the Malaysian-based team won the team award by 190 points. UMA Racing Yamaha Maju Motor Asia Team dropped to second with 178 points while UMA Racing Yamaha Philippine Team was ranked third with 139 points.
ASB 1000 championship leader, Broc Parkes, knew the heat would be on for Round 6 of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship at Sepang. As the home race for his two main title rivals, Zaqhwan Zaidi and Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, keeping them at bay for two races was always going to be a big ask.
Round 6 of the 2019 ARRC took place in Sepang, Malaysia
With Loris Baz as his stand-in for YART in the 2019/20 Bol d’Or, the Australian was giving his full attention to consolidating and building on his 188 points total – and the 35 point lead over Zaqhwan – that he took to Malaysia.
2019 ARRC Round 6 – Sepang
Asia Superbike Free Practice
Two Malaysian riders on very different bikes and with very different styles took control of free practice. It was the smooth riding Zaqhwan on the Honda Asia Dream with Showa SP2 who ended up quickest on combined times after stopping the clock at 2:06.502 in Friday’s final session. Meanwhile, the hard charging Azlan on the ONEXOX TKKR SAG BMW led FP1 and FP2 and recorded his best time of 2:06.665 early in the day’s final session.
Zaqwan Zaidi took control of FP
Yamaha Thailand’s Apiwat Wongthananon impressed again and was placed third ahead of championship leader, Broc whose best time was 2:06.919. Ahmad Yudhistira took the privateer Victor Racing Yamaha to a strong fifth in front of lap record holder, Thithipong Warakorn, who was battling flu as well as his back injury. Yuki Ito had a quiet day by his standards and ended up seventh.
Thitipong Warakorn was battling the flu and still recovering from injury
Italian wildcard, Frederico Sandi, made an excellent debut on the third Access Plus Racing Ducati, recording a best lap of 2:08.266 to end up eighth in front of team regular, TJ Alberto. Thitipong’s Kawasaki Thailand team-mate, Chaiwichit Nisakul, was tenth on 2:08.719, while Yamaha Thailand’s Ratthapong Wilairot spent the day lapping in the 2:09s and finished 11th.
Azlan Shah
Asia Superbike Qualifying
When it got to business time in Saturday morning’s 40 minute qualifying session, Broc put it all together on his Yamaha Racing ASEAN R1 to take pole position with a best lap of 2:06.107, 0.24s better than second placed Azlan and more than half a second quicker than Apiwat, who completed the front row.
Azlan Shah missed out on pole by 0.24s
Zaqhwan, on 2:06.735 led row two from Yuki Ito and Thitipong, for Kawasaki Thailand. Frederico raised more than a few eyebrows by qualifying seventh, in front of Yudhistira and team-mate, TJ Alberto.
Asia Superbike Race 1
It was the platinum version of Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman who jumped aboard the ONEXOX TKKR BMW at Sepang on Saturday afternoon. The two-times ARRC 600 champion kept himself within striking distance of the front during the frantic early laps, made a decisive move into the lead on lap eight and never looked threatened thereafter.
Asia Superbike 1000 race start
We were also treated to the first ever sighting of a Ducati leading an ARRC race, thanks to a convincing performance by Italian wildcard, Frederico Sandi on the Access Plus Racing Panigale.
Broc and Azlan had leisurely launches from the grid, while Apiwat scorched away from the outside of the front row to take the lead. Zaqhwan chased him, followed by Sandi and Azlan, Broc and Thitipong. Zaqhwan took the lead into turn one on lap two, but then dumped his Honda Asia Dream Racing with Showa SP2 – and his realistic title hopes – into the gravel a few corners later.
Frederico Sandi debuted Ducati at the ARRC
Frederico took his Ducati into the lead on lap three and, chased by Apiwat and Azlan, looked comfortable until his Dunlop-munching Panigale made him increasingly wayward from lap seven. Meanwhile, the man flu stricken Thitipong Warakorn, worked his way past Broc onto the rear of the front group as Azlan made his decisive move into the lead. Yuki pulled off the track with a mechanical failure on lap nine.
Thitipong kept pushing and got close enough to Apiwat to make his second place look vulnerable. Azlan made himself comfortable at the front as the two riders behind him, who have a few tales to tell from the Thai championships, locked horns. Thitipong got into second on lap 11 of 12, only for Apiwat to sweep back past him.
Australian Broc Parkes claimed fourth in Race 1
However, the Kawasaki Thailand man was not done and, going into the last corner wide and then cutting inside, managed to out-drag the Yamaha to the line by one tenth of a second to finish 1.4 seconds behind Azlan. Broc got the better of Frederico for fourth, leaving Ratthapong Wilairot in sixth, 16 seconds behind the winner and six seconds in front of seventh-placed Chaiwichit Nisakul.
Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman in the lead
Azlan’s fourth win of the season and Zaqhwan’s DNF put the ONEXOX TKKR SAG pilot into second in the standings on 168 points, 33 behind Broc, whose fourth place lifted his total to 201.
Asia Superbike Race 2
It was doubles all round at Sepang as Azlan Shah chalked his fifth win of the year and a Round 6 double. Thitipong Warakorn and Apiwat Wongthananon sealed braces of seconds and thirds respectively.
Zaqwan Zaidi
The ailing Thitipong shot his ZX-10RR through from row two at the start of the 11 lap race to lead into turn one, chased hard by Apiwat and Broc, who already looked in better shape than he had in race one. Zaqhwan and Azlan, who had made another languid start, led the chase behind the first three.
Zaqhwan soon began to slip back and Frederico Sandi showed that his race one performance had been no fluke by moving his Access Plus Ducati past both Malaysians and Ahmad Yudhistira into fourth place on lap five.
Zaqhwan Zaidi on the grid
Then Azlan began to move up, passing Frederico, Broc and Apiwat to take second and put Thitipong under pressure. Apiwat stayed close as Azlan went through to take the lead on lap 8, but was unable to get past Thitipong, who was hanging on to the back of the BMW.
Broc remained fourth until lap 10, when Zaqhwan got through. The Honda man almost immediately lost the front, but found his inner Marc Marquez and recovered without losing his track position. Frederico dropped down the order after lap seven, as traction and directional issues again kept him out of contention. Yudhistira lowsided out of the race on lap 10.
Looking nice and comfy on the last lap, Azlan stroked his BMW to win number five in 2019. He crossed the line 1.2 seconds ahead of Thitipong, who just managed to keep Apiwat at bay Zaqhwan finished fourth, while Broc took fifth place just behind him. Yuki, Frederico, Ratthapong, Chaiwichit Nisakul and Ali Adriansyah Rusmiputro completed the top ten.
The ASB 1000 podium saw Azlan, Thitipong and Apiwat claim top honours in Sepang
That means that Broc Parkes will go into the final round at Chang International Circuit on 212 points, 11 ahead of Azlan’s 193. Zaqhwan is now adrift in third place on 166.
Broc Parkes had another successful weekend on Asia Superbike duty for Yamaha Racing ASEAN at a baking hot Zhuhai International Circuit, situated just across the Chinese border with Macao.
The endurance racing exponent built on the 27-point lead he took into ARRC round five with a fourth place and a win, to leave with a 35 point lead over Honda Asia Dream Racing with Showa’s Zaqhwan Zaidi. From 10 starts in the series, Broc has finished every race, notching up three wins, four podiums, two fourths and a fifth. Championship winning form, indeed.
Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
There was one other high profile Australian on the entry list at Zhuhai. Mark Aitchison, who lives in China and competes in the national superbike series, was one of six wildcards to join ARRC’s premier class this season. Other noteables included Lee Zheng Peng and Canadian street racer, Dan Kruger.
In a region sometimes referred to as China’s Gold Coast because of its immaculate beaches, parks and modern, luxury accommodation, Zhuhai’s summer weather was hotter than usual due to a passing typhoon.
Lee Zheng Peng – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Teams and officials arriving from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore were all shocked by the intense, dry heat they had to contend with for all three days of competition, despite early forecasts of rain.
The 2019 championship has widely been viewed as a contest between the consistency of Parkes and the mercurial brilliance of Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, who began round five in second position in the standings, but the story ran much deeper than that.
Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Zhuhai International Circuit, with its long straights and tight corners is a fairly simple, stop-go track with plenty of mechanical and physical challenges. It’s 4.3 kilometres long and runs clockwise with nine right and five left turns.
Azlan Shah – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Free Practice
It had been seven years since ARRC had visited Zhuhai, so track knowledge was effectively neutralised. Broc and Zaqhwan were the first and fastest to acclimatize. Zaqhwan won the game of cat and mouse between the two in each of the three sessions, posting a best time of 1:34.482 in FP2 to Broc’s 1:32.530.
Broc Parkes’s crash in FP – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Broc’s indomitable team-mate, Yuki Ito, was third on combined times, just nine thousandths slower than the Australian. Azlan was fourth fastest, though more than half-a-second adrift of Yuki and Li Zheng Peng was fifth from Thitipong Warakorn, who was appearing for the first time since round one following a near career ending crash back in March when he crashed as a WSBK wildcard and was run over by Leon Camier.
Thitipong Warakorn made his comeback in China – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Qualifying
Broc managed to turn the tables on Zaqhwan in Saturday morning’s 40 minute qualifying session. On his last flying lap he became the only rider to dip under 1:34, stopping the clock at 1:34.994, 0.037s quicker than Zaqhwan. Azlan lopped almost a second off his best free practice time, to put himself into the frame with a 1:34.258.
Zaqhwan Zaidi and Yuki Ito – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Yuki led row two from Thitipong and Yamaha Thailand’s Apiwat Wongthananon. The third row was Ratthapong Wilairot, Mark Aitchisonon the YSS China Yamaha and Kawasaki Thailand’s Chaiwichit Nisakul.
Race One
Broc wasted his pole position, letting Zaqhwan take the lead and getting passed by Yuki Ito, Thitipong Azlan and Apiwat.
Zaqhwan Zaidi – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Yuki stuck close to the leader in the early laps, but found himself increasingly under pressure from Thitipong Warakorn, who looked as strong as ever on his comeback, and Azlan, who low-sided out of proceedings on lap seven at turn seven. Just behind them, Parkes kept the pressure on Apiwat before moving through to fourth and tried to catch the front three.
Zaqhwan fast and inch-perfect at the front, stretched his advantage to around a second by mid-distance as Yuki and Thitipong tussled over second. Another sequence of quick laps saw Zaqhwan open up the gap to 1.7 seconds.
Parkes, struggling with front brake and rear grip problems, kept the three riders in front of him in his sights and got clear of Apiwat, but was unable to get close enough to pass Thitipong and settled for fourth, 2.35 seconds behind the winner.
Zaqhwan Zaidi – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Azlan’s mistake let Zaqhwan through to second in the standings, 23 points behind Broc, whose total moved up to 166. Azlan stayed third, while Yuki moved up one place to fourth.
Zaqhwan Zaidi and Thitipong Warakorn – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Race Two
While air and track temperatures continued to scorch machines and riders on Sunday, there was a very different look to ASB 1000 race two. Broc, who had been out of sorts on Saturday, got his Yamaha Racing ASEAN R1 hooked up perfectly for race two to take a relatively comfortable win.
Zaqhwan meanwhile, who had been peerless in race one, had a real fight on his hands, as Azlan also turned things around after the previous day’s DNF. Yuki Ito followed up his race one P2 with third place after edging Zaqhwan off the podium and Thitipong continued his recovery from injury by finishing fifth, just 2.9 seconds behind the winner.
Zaqhwan got off to a good start, as did Azlan, who looked confident on the ONEXOX TKKR SAG BMW. He harrassed the Honda Asia Dream Racing by Showa rider while keeping Broc, Thitipong, Yuki and Apiwat at bay behind him. Apiwat’s challenge ended on lap three when a fading front brake forced his retirement. Yuki passed Thitipong for fourth and Broc passed Azlan for second.
Zaqhwan Zaidi – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Broc took the lead on lap five and did what he does best, putting a series of fast, consistent laps together to open a gap of more than a second at the front. Zaqhwan and Azlan grappled for second behind him, shadowed by Yuki and Thitipong.
A forced error by Zaqhwan let Azlan through to second and Yuki through to third. He fought back, briefly recovering to second before running wide again to let Azlan and Yuki through again.
Azlan Shah – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
Having open up a lead of 2.5 seconds, Parkes eased up on the last two laps to take the chequered flag by 1.4 seconds from Azlan. A further one second back, Yuki held off Zaqhwan for third and Thitipong followed closely into fifth. Nine seconds behind the Thai Kawasaki, Mark Aitchison was the first of the wildcards home in sixth in front of Ahmad Yudhistira and Ratthapong Wilairot. Kawasaki Thailand’s Chaiwichit Nisakul was ninth and Li Zheng Peng completed the top ten.
Yuki Ito – Zhuhai International Circuit – 2019 ARRC Round 5
It was a good weekend’s work for Broc, finishing fourth when he had problems in race one and taking his third win of the season when everything came together. His tally at the top of the standings is now 188, 35 clear of Zaqhwan and 45 from Azlan. Yuki is now in a solid fourth position with 131 points.
It was hard to call ARRC’s new-for-2019 premier class in Thailand. It was the tenth time the series has made the trip to Buriram, but the first time any of Asia’s regular stars had raced a superbike there. On the other hand, Parkes and Staring had no track experience, but vastly more time aboard one-litre machinery. Adding to that, two rounds and four races had seen race wins from four different riders and four different manufacturers.
Broc Parkes – Asia Superbike – ARRC Round 3
Daytime temperatures were in the early 30s, track temperatures in the early 40s and, while rain threatened on Friday and Saturday, there was nothing to disrupt proceedings.
The mercurial Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, lying second to Parkes in the championship after Round 2, got his green liveried ONEXOX TKKR SAG BMW hooked up nicely in Friday’s free practice to finish the day top on combined times with a best lap of 1:35.518 in FP3.
Chang International Circuit – ARRC Round 3
That was 0.756 faster than Honda Asia Dream Racing’s Zaqhwan Zaidi, who missed the last session when he somersaulted his CBR1000RR SP on the out lap.
Chang International Circuit – ARRC Round 3
Apiwat Wongthananon, who showed plenty of speed at Tailem Bend, applied his track knowledge to good effect to record 1:36.416, 0.15s better than Broc, who brought his times down progressively in each session. Ahmad Yudhistira, Yuki Ito and Ratthapong Wilairot also recorded times in the 1:36s, while Bryan managed a best time of 1:37.004 to end the day eighth.
Chang International Circuit – ARRC Round 3
Qualifying on Saturday morning went much the same way. Azlan was unable to quite match his best free practice time, crashing in the closing moments, but still took pole with a time of 1:35.790, which edged Yamaha Thailand’s hard charging Apiwat to the middle of the front row by seven thousandths of a second.
Chang International Circuit – ARRC Round 3
Zaqhwan was third on 1:36.062, Parkes improved on his best practice time, recording 1:36.385, which was two hundredths better than team-mate Ito and about the same again in front of Victor Racing’s Ahmad Yudhistira.
Bryan Staring – Asia Superbike – ARRC Round 3
Bryan got his times into the 1:36s and ended up sandwiched on the third row between Ratthapong and Access Plus Ducati’s TJ Alberto, who was promoted to ninth after Chaiwichit Nisakul crashed and broke his left wrist after recording 1:36.978 early in the session.
Asia Superbike Race 1
Rain clouds gathered overhead and spattered the grid for race one’s 13 laps on Saturday afternoon. The threat of rain faded on the warm-up lap and when the lights went out Apiwat got the best launch from the middle of the front row to lead poleman Azlan first time around, from Zaqhwan, who found himself holding off the three Yamahas of Ito, Yudhistira and Ratthapong and the Kawasaki of Bryan Staring. TJ Alberto, headed the rest of the field.
Azlan Shah – Asia Superbike – ARRC Round 3
At mid distance Azlan and Apiwat had got around one second clear, only for Zaqhwan to close them back down, bringing Broc Parkes and Yuki Ito with him. There was little to choose between the Malaysian and the Thai at the front, until Apiwat ran wide at turn 12 at the end of lap nine, falling back to fifth, before mounting a recovery.
Zaqhwan made a bid to catch the green BMW, leaving Broc and Ito in a squabble with Apiwat, as the Thai rider fought his way back. At the end Azlan swept to his second win of the season six tenths clear of compatriot, Zaqhwan, while Apiwat got in front of Ito, then Broc, to take third.
Three-and-a-half seconds further back, Ratthapong came through to sixth, holding off Bryan and Yudhistira. TJ came through to ninth ahead of Farid Badrul on the second ONEXOX TKKR SAG BMW, Kazuma Tsuda and Jonathan Serrapica.
Bryan Staring – Asia Superbike – ARRC Round 3
Asia Superbike Race 2
Lessons learned on Saturday produced a very different race on Sunday, which was run under clear skies and slightly hotter temperatures. Azlan got his BMW away well, from Broc Parkes, Zaqhwan Zaidi and Yuki Ito. Apiwat Wongthananon was slow off the line, but quickly fought his way through to third, as Zaqhwan dropped slightly off the pace.
Azlan Shah – Asia Superbike – ARRC Round 3
Broc, then Apiwat got past Azlan. The Australian was unable to break clear, but his Thai and Malaysian challengers were also unable to get past as the race moved into its late stages. The game changed on the final lap as Azlan moved past Apiwat to take second and put Broc under pressure.
Azlan Shah – Asia Superbike – ARRC Round 3
Apiwat fought back and the three approached Chang’s notorious turn 12 together. Azlan moved to the inside of Parkes, lost the front under braking, picked his BMW back up and scrambled to the line to complete the double a wheel in front of Broc, who was just four thousandths clear of Apiwat.
Zaqhwan held steady to take fourth, a second clear of Ahmad Yudhistira, who did another brilliant job for Victor Racing Team as the top privateer. Yuki Ito, who went back after a promising start, finished sixth ahead of Bryan for Kawasaki Thailand.
Parkes stays at the top of the standings after another solid weekend’s work, moving up to 105 points, while Azlan’s double brings him to 97 ahead of Zaqhwan on 84.
ARRC 2019 kicks off at Sepang with new Asian Superbike class
Broc Parkes second to Warokorn in Asian Superbike standings
Words & Images by Barry Russell
For the first time in five years the Malaysia-based Asia Road Racing Championship held a round at Sepang and for the first time ever used the 5.542 kilometre full track. This was also the start of a new era for ARRC. Having run with Supersport 600 as the premier class since 2000, it has taken its long-awaited step up to superbikes.
The move began with a tyre test at Buriram in December and continued with an official test for two days ahead of the weekend’s 2019 season opener. Rules for Asian Superbike (ASB) 1000 are essentially FIM Superstock, but with specially developed control tyres from Dunlop and the ability to fit bigger radiators to cope with hot weather at several of the countries ARRC visits. Those are, in fact, the only significant differences from ASBK regs, too.
Broc Parkes competes in the Asian Superbike class in 2019
Australian interest in the series received a boost when it held its second round of 2018 at Tailem Bend as a double bill with ASBK Round 3. It also had Anthony West as a championship contender until the Queenslander was sidelined by a still unresolved dope testing controversy with the FIM.
There had been high hopes that Glen Allerton would join ASB 1000, following his participation in the Buriram test, but these faded, leaving Broc Parkes and Patrick Li as Australia’s Superbike representatives. Broc adds this to his World Endurance Championship duties with YART for 2019, while Patrick will also race in ASBK.
ARRC Round 1, Sepang
New Zealander, Liam Taylor MacDonald, who rode as a wildcard in West’s former team in 2018, is contesting the Supersport 600 championship. The team has re-grouped as Victor Racing, which is named after the former team owner who died suddenly in December. Liam joins Patrick and Indonesian star, Ahmad Yudhistira, for this season.
14-year-old Travis Hall also returned to the mad and bad Underbone 150 class with Hi Rev SCK Honda, after acquitting himself well in 2018.
Sepang Testing
Asian Superbikes Testing
Joining series regular Yuki Ito in the Yamaha Racing Asean team, Broc Parkes put down an unmissable marker for Asia’s fastest riders by topping test times in all but the first of five sessions at Sepang during last week’s official pre-season test on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Showing the speed and consistency expected of one of the world’s top endurance racers, Parkes put in his best time of 2:06.075 in the relative cool of Wednesday’s early morning session, leaving his team-mate to fend off the rest of the field.
Broc Parkes impressed in testing prior to Round 1
Ito was able to get within seven tenths of the Australian to claim the second fastest time, ahead of Kawasaki Thailand’s Thitipong Warakorn and Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, who, having changed from last season’s supersport Kawasaki, quickly got the hang of the ONEXOX TKKR SAG BMW S1000RR to record a best lap of 2:06.950.
While test times pointed to Round 1 glory being decided between these four riders, there was plenty of room for improvement elsewhere in the field. The CBR1000RR of Honda Asia Dream’s Zaqwan Zaidi did well at such a fast circuit to record a fifth best overall time of 2:07.107, while Yudhistira was sixth, and the fastest privateer on the Victor Racing Yamaha.
Yamaha Thailand’s pairing of 2018 Supersport 600 champion, Ratthapong Wilairot, and 2016 AP 250 champion, Apiwat Wongthananon, both looked well short of their potential. Chaiwichit Nisakul took his first steps on the international stage for Kawasaki Thailand after good showings in the last two seasons in the Thai Superbike series and made good progress.
European manufacturers had never joined ARRC before, so there was plenty of interest being shown in the ONEXOX BMWs and in a distinctive pair of Ducati Panigales being campaigned by Access Plus Racing Philippines for Timothy Joseph Cua Alberto and Swiss rider, Jonathan Serrapica.
A nasty crash for Patrick Li in the final session, which left him with two upper left arm fractures, ruled him out of the opening round and Victor Racing looking for a replacement rider.
Supersport 600 Testing
With ASB 1000 replacing SS 600 as ARRC’s premier class, a field of ambitious under-25s began a fight for supremacy at Sepang during the test. Yamaha Thailand’s Peerapong Boonlert, another endurance racing exponent, with two Suzuka 4 Hour wins to his name, put in a best lap of 2:11.105, which was 0.279 faster than Malaysia’s Helmi Azman, the 2018 UB 150 champion, was able to manage for Musashi Boon Siew Honda.
Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin, Andi Farid Izdihar, Azroy Hakeem Anuar and Adam Noroddin were all within one second of Peerapong, while Ramdan Rosli led another five riders, including 2018 AP 250 champion, Rheza Danica Ahrens, who got within two seconds around the 5.542 kilometres of Sepang’s full circuit.
With Peerapong and Helmi already showing the swagger of potential champions and Andi, Azroy, Kasma Daniel and Ramdan Rosli having already proved their SS 600 mettle when it was the senior class, podium places promised to be be as hard fought as ever.
ARRC Round 1
Free Practice
After a rest day on Thursday, business for 2019 got underway with free practice on Friday. With rubber from the official test still fresh on Sepang’s abrasive asphalt, there were relatively few disruptions to rankings, though times generally improved and the differences between contenders got smaller.
Asian Superbikes – Round 1
The pace advantage enjoyed by Yamaha Racing Asean’s Broc Parkes during the test shrank to a few hundredths come practice at Round 1, as Azlan Shah continued to get the measure of his ONEXOX TKKR SAG BMW. The Malaysian posted his best time of the day in FP1, becoming the first rider to dip below 2:06 with a lap of 2:05.688. Although Parkes topped FP2 after a tumble by Azlan, it was not until the final outing of the day that the Australian edged back to the top by clocking 2:05.608.
Ahmad Yudhistira
Thitipong Warakorn showed strongly for Kawasaki Thailand to finish the day third, while his long-time Thai sparring partner, Apiwat Wongthananon, improved through the day to record 2:06.387, which was good enough for fourth. Rider of the day, though, was Ahmad Yudhistira, who showed strongly in each session to end up fifth on Victor Racing Team’s privateer Yamaha.
Zaqwan Zaidi toiled hard all day for Honda Dream Asia to finish sixth from an out-of-sorts Yuki Ito, Ratthapong Wilairot, Farid Badrul Hisham on the second ONEXOX BMW and Chaiwichit Nisakul. Timothy Joseph Cua Alberto was the better of the two Access Plus Ducatis, while Rajini Krishnan, standing in for the injured Patrick Li, managed a best lap of 2:09.978 to leave the second Ducati of Jonathan Serrapica in 13th.
Qualifying
In qualifying under conditions that were blisteringly hot, even by Sepang’s standards, Thitipong for Kawasaki Thailand and Azlan on the XOXO TKKR SAG BMW were strong from the get-go. As they approached the all important final ten minutes, Thitipong went 0.266 clear of early leader Azlan with a lap of 2:05.505.
Parkes, whose practice pace had been eluding him due to a chatter problem, crashed into the gravel with seven minutes left, while down in sixth place. Azlan pushed again, but was unable to get closer to the Thai rider. Zaqwan Zaidi made the best of his Honda Asia-Dream machine to record 2:06.323.
Another impressive session by Ahmad Yudhistira on the Victor Racing Yamaha saw him lead row two from Chaiwichit Nisakul and Parkes, while Yuki Ito was seventh ahead of Apiwat Wongthananon and Timothy Joseph Cua Alberto on the Access Plus Ducati.
Race 1
Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman won a titanic race long duel with Thitipong Warakorn to take the first win in the new ASB 1000 class and the first ever win for a BMW motorcycle in the 23-year history of the Asia Road Racing Championship. Broc Parkes opened his 2019 ARRC account by finishing third.
Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman
Thitipong managed to get every one of his Kawasaki’s horses into the rear Dunlop’s contact patch and rocketed into turn one clear of Azlan, managing to stretch his lead to a few bike lengths. Behind Azlan, Yamaha Thailand’s Apiwat got the better of Parkes and Zaqwan to move into third.
Zaqwan broke down and Ito crashed on lap five and Parkes, having found his rhythm, got back in front of the Thai. By the seventh lap of 12, Thitipong and Azlan were separated by half a second with a 2.7 second buffer back to Parkes.
Apiwat subsequently dropped back and was caught and passed by Yudhistira. Azlan closed up on Thitipong and passed him cleanly into turn 15 on lap 10. The Thai rider had no answer for the late pace of the BMW and dropped back to finish just short of two seconds behind.
Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Thitipong Warakorn
Another 5.5 seconds back, Parkes came home in a safe third, seven seconds ahead of Yudhistira who continued an excellent weekend’s work for Victor Racing by taking fourth place from Apiwat. Farid Adrul Hisham was sixth, well clear of the two Access Plus Ducatis of Alberto and Serrapica.
Asian Superbikes – Race 1
Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman MAS BMW 23:21.172
Thitipong Warokorn THA KAWASAKI +1.965
Broc Parkes AUS YAMAHA +5.616
Ahmad Yudhistira INA YAMAHA +8.134
Apiwath Wongthananon THA YAMAHA +0.370
Farid Badrul Hisham MAS BMW +6.683
Timothy Joseph Cua Alberto PHI DUCATI +18.899
Jonathan Serrapica SUI DUCATI +29.163
Ratthapong Wilairot THA YAMAHA +21.762
Race 2
Zaqwan Zaidi took full advantage of rain in ASB 1000 Race 2 that neutralised his Asia Dream Honda’s power deficit to take a cleverly earned victory.
Apiwat Wongthananon and Yuki Ito were the boldest riders at the start, getting away as most of the others took their time to acclimatise to the first rain of the 2019 season. Azlan, Thitipong and Parkes were notably judicious in the opening laps.
Thitipong Warokorn
Zaqwan moved towards the front steadily as the ONEXOX TKKR SAG BMW of Farid Badrul Hisham shot past everyone and took a lead of around four seconds before the wet track overcame his ambition and dumped him into the gravel. Ahmad Yudhistira looked as though he had got the measure of the Victor Racing Yamaha before he too made a horizontal entry to the DNF roster.
Race 1 winner, Azlan Shah, looked unhappy from the start and retired to the pits at half distance. By then, Zaqwan was within striking distance of Ito and Apiwat had faded to fifth, having been passed by Kawasaki Thailand’s Chaiwichit Nisakul and Thitipong. A cautious Broc Parkes was circulating in sixth.
Zaqwan pulled closer to Ito on Lap 9, passed him cleanly at the end of the tenth lap and made his way towards the horizon. Thitipong passed his team-mate and then on past Ito. Chaiwichit threw away what had been a commendable day’s work moments later by crashing out.
Zaqwan cruised to the win by 3.6 seconds, Thitipong took another second place and Ito held on for third. 20 seconds further back, Apiwat held off Parkes to finish fourth, while a further half lap behind, Timothy Joseph Cua Alberto, Ratthapong Wilairot and Rajini Krishnan were the only other finishers.
Thitipong Warokorn
Thitipong’s brace of second places give him 40 points and means that he will go to round 2 in Australia as the early championship leader, 13 clear of Parkes and 15 clear of the two race winners, Azlan and Zaqwan.
Asian Superbikes – Race 2
Md Zaqhwan Zaidi MAS HONDA 27:20.147
Thitipong Warokorn THA KAWASAKI +3.559
Yuki Ito JPN YAMAHA +3.654
Apiwath Wongthananon THA YAMAHA +21.238
Broc Parkes AUS YAMAHA +0.784
Timothy Joseph Cua Alberto PHI DUCATI +36.801
Ratthapong Wilairot THA YAMAHA +0.175
K. Rajini Krishnan IND Yamaha +1.470
Asian Superbikes following Round 1
T Warokorn – 40
B Parkes 27
A S Kamaruzaman 25
Md Z Zaidi – 25
A Wongthananon – 24
T Alberto – 19
Y Ito – 16
R Wilairot – 16
A Yudhistira – 13
F B Hisham – 10
Supersport 600 – Round 1
Like other riders on the first day, Yamaha Thailand’s Peerapong Boonlert made the best of cooler conditions in FP1 to post a best time of 2:10.610. That was good enough to keep him clear of a determined group of Malaysian riders who were able to edge closer to the Thai as the day went on.
Peerapong Boonlert
It was SIC Junior Team’s local hero, Adam Norrodin who got closest with 2:10.934 that put him top in FP3. Next best overall was Ramdan Rosli on 2:11.0027, who finished ahead of Azroy Anuar, Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin and the much fancied Helmi Azman, who found himself sixth at the end of the day, just in front of Astra Honda’s Andi Farid Izdihar.
Qualifying
In Supersport 600 qualifying SIC Junior Team’s Adam Norrodin got around Sepang’s full circuit in 2:10.021 to take pole position by 79 hundredths from Peerapong, as the Thai made his first mistake of the campaign with a crash towards the end of the session. Hong Leong Yamaha’s Kasma Daniel was another 0.213 slower and completed the front row.
Behind them, five hundredths of a second separated Kritchporn Kaewsonthi, Ahmad Afif Amran and Andi Farid Izdihar on the second row. Mushashi Boon Siew Honda’s Azroy Hakeen Anuar and Helmi Azman were joined on row three by Hong Leong’s Ramdan Rosli.
Race 1
Yamaha Thailand’s Peerapong Boonlert showed maturity well beyond his 20 years to win the first race of the season, despite being chased hard for eight out of ten laps by Hong Leong Yamaha’s Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin. Adam Norrodin made it an all Yamaha podium by finishing third.
Peerapong got away well from the middle of the front row, but was out-dragged into turn one on the outside by Kasma Daniel. The Thai rider took the lead under braking first time around at turn 15 and the two blue Yamahas opened up a slight gap to Adam, who found himself having to deal with urgent advances from Andy Farid and Helmi.
Andy highsided out of the contest at half distance and Adam took advantage to open up a gap on Helmi who was being caught by his Musashi Boon Siew stablemate, Azroy.
Peerapong kept his head and started to stretch away from the Malaysian on lap eight and began the tenth and final time around with a 1.3 second advantage. With Adam some 3.5 seconds adrift in third, Azroy sensed he could get the better of Helmi and slipped past his team-mate into fourth, a further three seconds back.
Hong Leong Yamaha’s Ramdan Rosli finished sixth from AP Honda’s Kritchaporn , Astra Honda’s Rheza Danica Ahrens, Ahmad Afif Amran and Liam Taylor MacDonald, who was the last of the ten finishers for Victor Racing.
Supersport 600 – Race 1
Peerapong Boonlert THA YAMAHA 21:53.239
Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin MAS YAMAHA +1.255
Muhamad Adam Mohd. Norrodin MAS YAMAHA +3.695
Azroy Hakeem Anuar MAS HONDA +2.272
Md. Helmi Azman MAS HONDA +0.087
Md. Ramdan Rosli MAS YAMAHA +5.187
Kritchaporn Kaewsonthi THA HONDA +2.607
Rheza Danica Ahrens INA HONDA +6.82
Ahmad Afif Amran MAS YAMAHA +0.963
Liam Taylor MacDonald NZL YAMAHA +26.004
Race 2
Yamaha Thailand’s Peerapong Boonlert crowned a week during which he had set the pace for ARRC’s new-look Supersport class during pre-season testing and practice by winning Race 2 with a margin of two seconds. There was plenty to take in behind him, with heated battles for the remaining podium places.
Peerapong Boonlert and Daniel Kasmayudin
Adam Norrodin got away well from pole position to lead into turn one from Kasma Daniel and Peerapong, but ran off and dropped to last place. Hong Leong Yamaha’s Kasma Daniel tried to give chase, but was distracted by pressure from the Hondas of Andi Farid Izdihar and Helmi Azman. Meanwhile Adam commenced his charge back through the field.
By lap eight of ten, Kasma was just ahead of Helmi and Andi, who was coming within range of the recovering Adam. Kasma ran wide at the exit to turn 14, to let all three of them through and Adam went past Helmi into third at the end of lap nine.
Andi held on in second, while Kasma came back to drop Helmi to fifth and then got past Adam at the final corner to finish third. Helmi claimed his second fifth place of the weekend, four seconds clear of Ramdan Rosli and Azroy Hakeem Anuar.
The 50 points Peerapong collected gives him an advantage of 16 over Kasma Daniel to take to Australia at the end of April.
Supersport 600 – Race 2
Peerapong Boonlert THA YAMAHA 21:57.152
Andi Farid Izdihar INA HONDA +1.986
Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin MAS YAMAHA +0.333
Muhamad Adam Mohd. Norrodin MAS YAMAHA +0.185
Md. Helmi Azman MAS HONDA +0.434
Md. Ramdan Rosli MAS YAMAHA +4.046
Azroy Hakeem Anuar MAS HONDA +0.149
Kritchaporn Kaewsonthi THA HONDA +7.929
Passawit Thitivararak THA HONDA +0.417
Rheza Danica Ahrens INA HONDA +3.915
Fakhrusy Syakirin Rostam MAS YAMAHA +8.995
Liam Taylor MacDonald NZL YAMAHA +17.694
Supersport 600 standings following Round 1
P Boonlert – 50
K D Kasmayudin – 36
M Norrod – 29
Md Azman – 22
A Anuar – 22
A Izdihar – 20
Md Rosli – 20
K Kaewsonthi – 17
R Ahrens – 14
L MacDonald – 10
Asia Production 250 – Round 1
Nobody told Astra Honda’s latest prodigy, Lucky Hendriansia, that it’s difficult to race in ARRC’s AP 250 class. At the start of his first outing in the series, the young Indonesian finished ahead of championship favourites, Andy Fadly and Muklada Sarapuech, as well as his two senior team-mates, Irfan Ardiansyah and Awhin Sanjaya.
Lucky Hendriansia, Andy Fadly
Lucky set his best time of 2:25.530 in the relative cool of the first morning session, just ahead of Irfan, Muklada and Fadly, who later topped FP2 with a time of 2:25.617. The pace of these four was around half a second beyond the chasing pack which was led by Fadly’s Manual Tech KYT team-mate, Aiki Ayoshi, another rider who was making an impressive debut.
Just behind the Japanese was Awhin and, impressively, Sethu Rajiv, who was finding some form at the start of his third season in the class for Idemitsu Honda India. Rajiv was seventh on combined times, ahead of Rey Ratukore, Muzzakir Mohamed and Yamaha Thailand’s Suttipat Patchaeetron.
Qualifying
AP Honda’s Muklada took ownership of 250 qualifying posting a best lap of 2:24.783 to secure pole by 0.105 from Astra Honda’s Irfan Ardiansyah. Andy Fadly qualified third from Awhin Sanjaya, Lucky Hendriansia and Suttiporn Patchaeetron.
Race 1
Astra Honda’s Lucky Hendriansia won his first ever AP 250 race after a fierce battle with Manual Tech KYT’s Andy Fadly. With Muklada Sarapuech breaking down early in the race, the pace of these two was beyond what his team-mates or anyone else out there could manage.
Lucky Hendriansia leads Andy Fadly
Andy Fadly made the best of his outside front row position, pouncing on a mistake by Irfan Ardiansyah to lead out of turn one and maintain his position to the end of the opening lap, chased by Muklada and Irfan.
Lucky Hendriansia moved up and took the lead on lap two as Muklada and the other two Astra Hondas joined Fadly in a group of five that was well clear at the front. Moments later, Muklada’s Honda spluttered as she exited turn 14 and her race was over.
The pace of Lucky and Fadly was too much for Irfan and Awhin, who fell back and settled down to contest the third step of the podium, which eventually went to Irfan. A further ten seconds back, Faerozi Toreqotullah, Rey Ratukore, Aiki Iyoshi and Muzzakir Mohamed contested fifth position, finishing in that order.
With nothing between the Honda and the Kawasaki at the front as they started the last lap, the final corner was to prove decisive. Lucky had a wheel in front as they squeezed the brakes and held his line as Fadly tried to go around the outside, only to get out of shape as he found there was no space for him to cut back into. Lucky powered through to the chequered flag to take the win at the first time of asking.
Asia Production 250cc – Race 1
Lucky Hendriansya INA HONDA 19:34.655
Andy Muhammad Fadly INA KAWASAKI +0.184
Irfan Ardiansyah INA HONDA +3.537
Awhin Sanjaya INA HONDA +0.550
Muhammad Faerozi Toreqottullah INA YAMAHA +11.688
Aiki Iyoshi JPN KAWASAKI +0.002
Reynaldo Chrisantho Ratukore INA YAMAHA +0.109
Md Muzakkir Mohamed MAS YAMAHA +0.019
Rafid Topan Sucipto INA HONDA +9.817
Nazirul Izzat Md Bahauddin MAS YAMAHA +0.084
Race 2
AP Honda’s Muklada Sarapuech bounced back from the disappointment of her Race 1 DNF to overcome a determined Andy Fadly and win Race 2.
Sepang Pit Lane
Starting from pole position, Muklada slotted in behind Astra Honda’s Lucky Hendriansia and the Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki of Fadly. Just behind them, Astra’s Irfan Ardiansyah crashed at turn one in a four-bike pile-up, while Awhin Sanjaya attempted to hang on to the front three, before falling back.
Some way behind Awhin, Rey Ratukore, Faerozi Toreqotutullah, Suttipat Patchaeetron and Izzat Bahauddin fought over fifth place.
Fadly began to lose contact with the two Hondas on lap four, but on lap five Lucky ran wide at turn one. He recovered to stay in front of Fadly, who used his fellow Indonesian to tow him back up to within reach of Muklada.
Lucky got in front of the Thai rider on lap six, while Fadly vainly tried some wide, sweeping lines to keep himself in contention for the win. With two laps remaining Lucky got turn 15 wrong to let Muklada and Fadly through and the Thai set her sights on the clear track in front of her.
Fadly fought back and outbreaked Muklada into the last turn, as Lucky crashed out. Despite coming out of the corner behind the Indonesian, Muklada got the best drive and took the win by a wheel.
Awhin claimed third by a whisker from Aiki Iyoshi and Faerozi. Muzzakir was sixth from Izzat Bahauddin. Izam Ihmal was eighth, Angi Setiawan ninth and Cao Vietnam was tenth in front of a remounted Lucky.
Fadly’s 40 points gives him a 10 point lead over Lucky, while Awhin is third on 29.
Asia Production 250cc – Race 2
Muklada Sarapuech THA HONDA 19:36.510
Andy Muhammad Fadly INA KAWASAKI +0.068
Awhin Sanjaya INA HONDA +8.267
Aiki Iyoshi JPN KAWASAKI +0.073
Muhammad Faerozi Toreqottullah INA YAMAHA +0.078
Md Muzakkir Mohamed MAS YAMAHA +2.374
Nazirul Izzat Md Bahauddin MAS YAMAHA +0.129
Muhammad Izam Ikmal MAS KAWASAKI +11.540
Anggi Setiawan INA YAMAHA +2.824
Cao Viet Nam VIE HONDA +6.105
Asia Production 250cc Standings
A Fadly – 40
L Hendriansya – 30
A Sanjaya – 29
M Sarapuech – 25
A Iyoshi – 23
M Toreqquot – 22
Md Mohamed – 18
R Ardiansyah – 16
N Bahauddin – 15
A Setiawan – 10
Underbone 150 – Round 1
There were 34 machines on track for UB 150 practice and qualifying on Friday, with riders that ranged from wily old hands like Ahmad Fazli Sham and Affendi Rosli to early teenagers like Gun Mie and Travis Hall.
Underbone 150cc
2017 champion, UMA Racing Malaysia’s Akid Aziz, carried his form through from testing. Despite mechanical problems in FP1, he took back the top slot in the second session with a best lap of 2:32.738, just six hundredths clear of his Filipino UMA counterpart, McKinley Kyle Paz.
Other riders to distinguish themselves included Aldi Satya Mahandra, Affendi, Fazli Sham, Fernando Masato, Haziq Fairues, Wahyu Aji Trilaksana, Izzat Zaidi and Aiman Azman.
Friday also featured qualifying for the monos, in order to set up Saturday morning’s Superpole showdown for the first 15 places on the starting grid. With the aforementioned riders all featuring on the first page of the timing screens, it was the wily Fazli Sham who came out on top for ONEXOX TKKR SAG, clocking 2:32.984, which was 0.229 faster than Aldi, who was next best.
Wahyu Aji was third ahead of Fernando Masato, Akid and Kyle Paz. SND Factory Racing’s two-times champion, Gupita Kresna, qualified 15th thereby setting himself up to be first away for Superpole. Travis Hall scored a lap of 2:34.474, which missed the cut for Superpole and placed him 28th on the grid.
Qualifying
The whole point of Superpole for the underbone class is to isolate rider and machine performance from the effects of slipstreaming. Akid Aziz showed exactly how to do it with an inch-perfect lap of2:33.216 that was almost six tenths faster than his slipstream assisted qualifying time.
His UMA Yamaha Philippines counterpart, McKinley Kyle Paz was second, more than half a second slower and there was a similar gap back to Yamaha Racing Indonesia’s Aldi Satya Mahendra. Fernando Masato, Fazli Sham and Peerapong Luiboonpeng made up row three.
Race 1
Saturday afternoon’s racing began with a sensory assault by 34 highly tuned, evenly matched, 150 singles. Taking on Malaysia’s best underbone riders on their home turf, popular Filipino, McKinley Kyle Paz, snatched the Race 1 win from under their noses..
Kyle Paz
Akid made a clean start to convert pole into P1, leading a pack of nine bikes that got away from the rest of the field on the opening lap. Kyle Paz took turns in the lead with Peerapong, Masato, Aldi Satya Mahendra Wahyu Nugroho, Affendi and Wawan Wello. Hi Rev SCK’s 13-year-old Japanese rookie, Gun Mie, was also in the group with Haziq Fairues and Fazli Sham.
Akid let Kyle Paz through to the lead on the last lap, but immediately found himself in the clutches of Affendi, Fazli and others. The Filipino got cleanly through the last corner to take the win ahead of Team One for All’s Affendi Rosli, who led a tightly packed chasing group across the line consisting of Akid Aziz, Peerapong Luiboonpeng and Fernando Masato. Fazli crashed on the exit to the last corner and failed to score.
Underbone 150cc – Race 1
McKinley Kyle Paz PHI YAMAHA 15:28.658
Md Affendi Rosli MAS YAMAHA +0.212
Md Akid Aziz MAS YAMAHA +0.016
Peerapong Luiboonpeng THA YAMAHA +0.044
Fernando Masato PHI YAMAHA +0.001
Wawan Wello INA HONDA +0.350
Aldi Satya Mahendra INA YAMAHA Racing Indonesia YAMAHA +6.211
Md Haziq Md Fairues MAS YAMAHA +3.261
Md. Amirul Ariff Musa MAS HONDA +0.257
Gun Mie JPN HONDA +5.471
…11. Travis Hall – DNF
Race 2
It was all smiles in the UMA Yamaha Racing Philippines garage, as they celebrated their second win of the weekend, after Fernando Masata took his turn on the top step of the UB 150 podium after another incident-packed six lap contest.
Aldi Satya Mahendra got the best start to lead for most of lap 1, threatened mostly by Wawan Wello, until he ran wide and dropped back, albeit briefly. Mckinley Kyle Paz, Masato, Akid Aziz, Peerapong Luisboonpeng, Amirul Ariff Musa and a bunch of the usual suspects bumped and weaved their way close behind. Fazli Sham’s unhappy race weekend continued when he pulled into the pits at the end of lap two.
Akid Aziz
An attempt by the UMA Philippines duo to break away on lap 3 was foiled by the chasing peloton and, at the end of lap four, there were eight bikes in the leading group. Wawan had another moment when he almost highsided, but he scrambled straight back into contention. A last corner tangle at the end of lap five took out Aldi, leaving the Filipinos, Akid, Peerapong, Haziq Fairues, and Wawan to the final lap fight.
As the went into the final turn, Akid went down and it was Masato who came through to take the win from Ariff Musa, Kyle Paz, Wawan, Peerapong and Haziq.
Kyle Paz took 41 points and the championship lead away from Sepang, while Masato is second on 36.
Underbone 150cc – Race 2
Fernando Masato PHI YAMAHA 15:32.583
Md. Amirul Ariff Musa MAS HONDA +0.108
McKinley Kyle Paz PHI YAMAHA +0.017
Wawan Wello INA HONDA +0.635
Peerapong Luiboonpeng THA +3.017
Md Haziq Md Fairues MAS YAMAHA +0.018
Wahyu Aji Trilaksana INA YAMAHA +0.359
Md Affendi Rosli MAS YAMAHA +0.037
Gun Mie JPN HONDA +6.580
Gupita Kresna INA YAMAHA +0.136
Travis Hall AUS HONDA +1.809
Underbone 150cc Standings
M Paz – 41
F Masatao – 36
Md Rosli – 28
Md Musa – 27
P Luiboonpeng – 24
W Wello – 23
Md Fairues – 18
Md Aziz – 16
G Mie – 13
W Trilaksana – 9
…13. Travis Hall – 5
Asia Road Racing Championship 2019
Round 2 – The Bend Motorsport Park – Australia – 25-28 April 2019
Round 3 – Chang International Circuit – Thailand – 31 May-2 June 2019
Round 4 – Suzuka Circuit – Japan – 28–30 June 2019
Round 5 – Korea International Circuit – South – Korea 9–11 Aug 2019
Round 6 – Sepang International Circuit – Malaysia – 19–22 Sep 2019
Round 7 – Chang International Circuit – Thailand – 29 Nov–1 Dec 2019
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