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.
Round 3 of the Asia Talent Cup saw Sho Nishimura claim the Race 1 win from Afridza Munandar and Takuma Matsuyama, with young Aussies Harrison Voight 13th, Luke Power 16th and Jacob Roulstone 18th.
Afridza Munandar – Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
In Race 2 it was Afridza Munandar who claimed the race win from Adenanta Putra and Warit Thongnoppakun. Harrison Voight took fourth, with Jacob Roulstone inside the top 10 in ninth, and Luke Power 11th.
Asia Talent Cup Race 1
Sho Nishimura has extended his lead in the standings after a dramatic Race 1 at Sepang International Circuit, with the first showdown of the weekend cut short by a Red Flag after a mutliple-rider incident with five laps to go. Indonesian Afridza Munandar and Japanese rider Takuma Matsuyama, who remains second in the Championship, completed the podium.
Race 1 Start – Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
It was Shoki Igarashi who took the holeshot from third on the grid, slotting into the lead ahead of Matsuyama as polesitter Nishimura lost out slightly off the line. But it wouldn’t stay that way for long as the number 11 machine of Matsuyama soon attacked and took the lead, initially then pushing to try and break away but Nishimura able to pull him back in. And so it became a group of four fighting at the front, with Munandar up in the mix.
Warit Thongnoppakun was on the chase, however, with the Thai rider managing to chip away at the gap and join the foursome in the lead. Could he get into a podium position and take his second rostrum finish? As it transpired, he wouldn’t get the chance as some serious drama was about to hit the second group.
Sho Nishimura – Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
A multiple-rider crash saw Hildhan Kusuma, Adenanta Putra, Tatchakorn Buasri and Abdul Mutaqim all go down, and soon after the Red Flag was shown, bringing the race to an early end. That meant that last time over the line decided the winner – and it had been close. By an infinitesimal 0.060 the win goes to Nishimura, with the Japanese rider just ahead of Munandar, and Matsuyama completes the podium. Thongnoppakun and Igarashi complete the top five.
Because the results are taken from the last time over the line, it’s Putra classified sixth, ahead of home hero Syarifuddin Azman as the Malaysian put in a top performance on home turf. Herjun Firdaus takes P8, with Hildhan Kusuma and Piyawat Patoomyos completing the top ten.
Takuma Matsuyama – Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
Buasri and Mutaqim were 11th and 12th and the last two in a tight freight train of seven riders within a few tenths before the key incident. Riders were all ‘ok’ after the crash, although Buasri and Mutaqim were sent for further checks.
Australian Harrison Voight took P13 and some points after a top qualifying, with Ryosuke Bando and second Malaysian Idil Mahadi completing the scorers.
Race 1 Podium – Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
Asia Talent Cup Race 1 Results
Sho Nishimura 18’42.072
Afridza Munandar +0.060
Takuma Matsuyama +0.289
Warit Thongnoppakun +0.544
Shoki Igarashi +0.962
Adenanta Putra +5.506
Syarifuddin Azman +5.552
Herjun Firdaus +5.789
Hildhan Kusuma +5.928
Piyawat Patoomyos +6.159
Tatchakorn Buasri +6.247
Abdul Mutaqim +6.376
Harrison Voight +8.161
Ryosuke Bando +15.990
Muhammad Idil Fitri Bin Mahadi +19.981
Luke Power +23.609
Rei Wakamatsu +23.858
Jacob Roulstone +23.828
Kadir Erbay +51.360
Asia Talent Cup Race 2
Afridza Munandar took a commending second win of the season at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, staying clear of a chaotic fight at the front in the final laps to take home 25 points and take over second in the standings. Compatriot Adenanta Putra followed him home, with Thai rider Warit Thongnoppakun taking his second rostrum of the finish in third after escaping some final corner drama.
Race 2 Start – Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
Sho Nishimura took the holeshot from pole, but Takuma Matsuyama was quick to attack back and the two headed up a five-rider fight at the front, with Thongnoppakun, Shoki Igarashi and Adenanta Putra in the mix. There was a small gap back to Tatchakorn Buasri on the chase, and eventual winner Afridza Munandar was soon challenging too.
Afridza Munandar – Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
With Matsuyama streaking away at the front, it was Munandar who sliced through to start reeling the number 11 in with a show of intent and he did just that; the freight train at the front then appearing again and 12 riders within 1.8 seconds.
With eight laps to go, big drama hit for Matsuyama. Running off and then making contact with another rider on track, the number 11 fell from the front fight and the initial pacesetter was out. That left Munandar in the lead at the front of the group, with Nishimura in second and home hero Syarifuddin Azman having sliced through into third.
Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
As the group kept chopping and changing and the laps ticked down, however, it was Thongnoppakun who managed to escape the melee to stay with Munandar and the duo began to pull away. Heading onto the final lap, the Indonesian had half a second in his pocket and that would prove a crucial gap.
Although those behind managed to close in, no one could attack Munandar into the final corner – and the final corner was where the attack happened. Azman, gunning for a home podium, tried a move on Nishimura but the Malaysian tagged the back of the Japanese rider, taking them both down and out of podium contention.
Munandar crossed the line in clear air, Thongnoppakun was able to avoid the drama and, despite losing time, made his way back on track to gun it to the line – but he was beaten to it as Adenanta Putra pipped him to the post, the podium decided in dramatic fashion.
Harrison Voight – Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
Harrison Voight took his best finish yet in fourth after a good weekend for the Australian, ahead of Hildhan Kusuma who completed the top five. Tatchakorn Buasri took P6 ahead of Piyawat Patoomyos, with Abdul Mutaqim crossing the line in eighth.
Jacob Roulstone headed the next group and beat home hero Idil Mahadi to ninth, with Luke Power, Rei Wakamatsu, Kadir Erbay and wildcard Shinji Ogo completing the finishers. Igarashi and Herjun Firdaus suffered DNFs.
Jacob Roulstone – Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
It’s a long wait for the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup until the next round alongside MotoGP at Buriram now, but it’s still Sho Nishimura who leads the way despite Day 2 at Sepang not going his way. Who will be strongest when the field return to the fray? Find out in October.
Race 2 Podium – Asia Talent Cup 2019 – Round 3 Sepang
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.
The Asia Road Racing Championship had a new look for its second trip to Tailem Bend for the double header with ASBK. The visitors turned up with three classes again, however for 2019 the Underbone 150s were replaced in the schedule by the Asian Superbikes (ASB) which make its debut as ARRC’s premier class this season.
Asia Superbikes replaced the Underbone 150 class at Tailem Bend in 2019
The big bikes were joined by the Supersport 600s, which now has an upper age limit of 25, and the Asia Production 250 class. That meant that many of the senior riders who raced 600s last year have moved up to the litre class, including double champions, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Zaqwan Zaidi, 2019 champion Ratthapong Wilairot, and last year’s Supersport race winner Yuki Ito.
2019 Asia Road Racing Championship Round 2 – Tailem Bend
They are joined this year by Broc Parkes, who has added a full season in ARRC to his FIM Endurance World Championship duties. By design the rules for ASB 1000 are similar to ASBK’s, with a few key differences.
2019 Asia Road Racing Championship Round 2 – Tailem Bend
Exceptions are the larger radiators that are allowed in the Asian series, which runs in several hot countries, like Malaysia and Thailand, and the control tyres that have been specifically developed by Dunlop for ARRC. The similarities make it easy for riders to switch between series during the course of a season.
Thitipong Warokorn was injured in his wildcard WSBK appearance and had to sit out Round 2
This factor was pivotal for ARRC Round 2. The championship leader after round one, Kawasaki Thailand’s Thitipong Warakorn, was absent with back and chest injuries sustained during his WSBK wildcard appearance at Buriram, when he crashed and was run over by Leon Camier.
Bryan Staring joined Kawasaki Thailand to fill in for Warakorn, alongside competing ASBK
As the Thai rider goes through the long process of recovering and getting fit, Kawasaki Japan assigned his ride to Bryan Staring who is currently competing the ASBK championship with the BCPerformance Kawasaki team in Kawasaki Superbikes, thereby putting him on double duty for the four-day event.
2019 Asia Road Racing Championship Round 2 – Tailem Bend
Asia Superbike 1000
During practice and qualifying Staring got into a battle for supremacy with his compatriot Broc Parkes, with the two Aussies battling it out. It was won by the Yamaha rider, who took pole position with a stunning single lap of 1:52.581, more than six tenths clear of Staring.
Broc Parkes claimed top qualifying honours
Yamaha Thailand’s former AP 250 champion, Apiwat Wonthananon was third, ahead of Yuki Ito, Zaqwan Zaidi and Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman, who completed row two.
Asia Superbike 1000 – Race 1
In warmer conditions than had prevailed for qualifying, it was Staring who got the best drive at the start to lead lap one from Parkes, Zawan and Apiwat. His bold attempt to get away was quickly closed down by Parkes who got past him one lap later and opened up a comfortable gap of this own, which had extended up to 1.5 seconds by the end of lap four. Staring kept a good distance between him and third-placed Zaqwan, who beat off a challenge from Apiwat, Azlan and Yuki Ito.
Broc Parkes and Bryan Staring in the lead from the ASB start
The soft rear Dunlop of the leading Yamaha began to lose grip shortly before half of the 12 laps were done, which allowed the Kawasaki stand-in to reel him him back in. Staring made his move on lap eight with a well-planned move that saw him pull out of Parkes’s slipstream as they got to the braking zone at the end of the one kilometer straight and go cleanly past and into the lead at turn one. The Yamaha rider had no answer and Staring opened up a gap that stretched out to more than two seconds at race end.
Bryan Staring in the lead
Behind the two Australians, Zaqwan forged himself a comfortable slot in third place ahead of Ito, who was coming through strongly after passing Azlan for fourth. Then it went wrong for the Honda Asia Dream pilot, as a mistake on the last lap allowed Ito to seize third, while Zaqwan recovered to claim fourth.
Azlan finished fifth from the Yamaha Thailand pairing of Apiwat and Ratthapong Wilairot, while Ahmad Yudhistira, Chaiwichit and Farid Hisham completed the top ten.
Parkes’s second place lifted him to the top of the standings with a total of 47 points. The absent Thitipong was relegated to second with 40, while Zaqwan was on 38, Azlan on 36 and Ito on 34.
Asia Superbike 1000 – Race 2
Cool, windy conditions returned on Sunday, dropping air temperatures to 15-19 degrees, with track temperatures just a few clicks higher. After losing grip at around half distance while in the lead the day before, Broc Parkes worked with his Yamaha ASEAN Racing team to recalibrate the bike and rider for race two.
Staring grabbed an early lead from Parkes in Race 2 but it didn’t last long
Bryan Staring, whose Kawasaki Thailand ZX10RR had performed flawlessly to take the race one win, realised his Australian rival was likely to be much closer in race two and that the regular Asian riders would also be building on what they had learned the day before at The Bend.
Staring had another perfect launch from the middle of the front row to take the lead. Yamaha Thailand’s Apiwat Wongthananon got away well to the right of the Kawasaki and slotted in behind him.
Broc Parkes claims the Race 2 win from Race 1 winner Bryan Staring
As the front of the pack shuffled itself into shape Broc Parkes moved into third and these three began to put daylight between themselves and Zaqwan Zaidi, who led a chasing group that also included the ONEXOX TKKR SAG BMW of Azlan Shah and the Yamahas of Yuki Ito and Ratthapong Wilairot. TJ Alberto and Kazuma Tsuda crashed at turn two and took no further part.
As the first half of the 12 lap race approached, Apiwat was passed by Parkes and began to slip back towards Zaqwan, who was himself under pressure from Azlan Shah and Yuki Ito. After watching the back of the black Kawasaki for a few laps, Parkes made his move and slipped into lead on lap 10. Staring stayed close, taking his turn for follow and watch. Apiwat was passed by Zaqwan, Ito and Azlan, which left the two Yamaha Thailand riders in sixth and seventh. Ito got himself through to third, leaving Azlan and Zaqwan to dispute fifth.
Stephanie Redman claimed 12th in Race 2
The game of cat and mouse at the front came to an end as Parkes and Staring began lap 11, with both riders pushing hard. Parkes lost the front twice in his efforts, as Staring kept the pressure on. The Yamaha rider pulled just enough of a gap on the last lap to put the win out of reach and crossed the line with a winning margin of almost half a second.
Ito took his second third place of the weekend, 1.4 seconds further back and eight seconds clear of Zaqwan, whose Asia Dream Racing Honda overcame the BMW of Azlan. Apiwat and Ratthapong held on for sixth and seventh. Yudhistira, Chaiwichit and Farid completed the top ten.
Broc Parkes
The 45 points collected by Broc Parkes over the two races put him on 72 points, 11 clear of Zaqwan, who now has 61. Azlan, Staring and Apiwat are on 47,46 and 44 respectively, while the injured Thitipong has slipped from first to seventh with 40 points.
Broc Parkes claimed the Race 2 win from Bryan Staring and Yuki Ito
The opening bout of the triple-header ASBK Superbike weekend took place on Saturday afternoon and resulted in a come from behind win for BCperformance Kawasaki’s Bryan Staring. It also ended with a no-points score for Wayne Maxwell after a collision with Daniel Falzon.
2019 ASBK Round Three – The Bend Race Two Reports ASBK Superbike Race Two
Maxwell shrugged that disappointment off when the lights went out just after 1030 on Sunday morning for the second of three 10-lap ASBK Superbike races at The Bend this weekend.
2019 ASBK Round Three – The Bend Race Two Reports ASBK Superbike Race Two
The #47 Suzuki scored the holeshot ahead of championship leader Cru Halliday, that pair immediately started to gap the field over the course of the opening lap.
2019 ASBK Round Three – The Bend Race Two Reports ASBK Superbike Race Two
Saturday’s victor Bryan Staring threaded his way past Josh Waters, Daniel Falzon and Alex Phillis to move up to third position by the end of lap one. At the end of that opening lap Maxwell led Halliday by half-a-second, while Staring was a further 1.3-seconds behind in third place, and having to stave off the forward thrusts of Falzon.
ASBK Superbike Race Two – The Bend 2019 – Image by Rob Mott
Halliday then started to close on Maxwell and as they started lap three Staring lost position to Falzon after getting into turn one a little too hot, and sideways, in his quest to try and keep Falzon, Waters, Phillis, Herfoss and Mike Jones behind him. That was a six-strong freight train battling hard for track position.
2019 ASBK Round Three – The Bend Race Two Reports ASBK Superbike Race Two Maxwell leads Halliday – Image by TBG
Mark Chiodo put in a fantastic performance yesterday, leading much of the opening race before finishing fourth, the young Victorian was trying to stay in touch with that leading pack this morning, running in ninth position with seven laps to go.
ASBK Superbike Race Two – The Bend 2019 – Image by Rob Mott
Falzon put in a new fastest lap of the race to start reeling Halliday and Maxwell in, Staring was also coming along for the ride. The Dunlop runner knowing that he may have an edge for grip in the closing laps.
On the following lap Falzon must have made some small error as he lost a few bike lengths on Staring. The Kawasaki man then quickly pulled away and in no time was on the back of Halliday’s YZF-R1M. Cru must have sensed him there, looking around as they went down the main straight, only for Staring to pass him on the opposite side! A couple of corners later Staring put a great move on Maxwell to take the race lead, from there he immediately started to pull away, with apparent ease.
ASBK Superbike Race Two – The Bend 2019 – Image by Rob Mott
It then became a race for second place, and what a race it was becoming. Mike Jones had joined the party, passing Falzon and then Halliday to move up to third place. Jones’ next target was the #47 Suzuki of Wayne Maxwell. All riders were suffering from tyre wear issues now, some a little worse than others, but all those Pirelli runners were suffering to some degree.
ASBK Superbike Race Two – The Bend 2019 – Image by Rob Mott
Mike Jones looked to be suffering less than the others though as he slipped the DesmoSport Ducati past Wayne Maxwell for second place with four laps to run.
Bryan Staring was now more than three-seconds ahead, the Dunlop rider running a different race here today. At most tracks the Pirelli rubber used in ASBK has the edge, but here at The Bend it is clear that Dunlop has the advantage.
With three laps to run Lachlan Epis went down with Ted Collins. Glenn Allerton was already out of the running after breaking his wrist yesterday after a clash with Alex Phillis, not a great weekend for the NextGen BMW squad. Two wrecked bikes from two accidents, neither of which was really the fault of their riders.
At the last lap board Staring had a seven-second lead over Mike Jones, who in turn had just under half-a-second on Wayne Maxwell. That was where the action was on the final lap, Maxwell all over the back of Jones through the opening series of bends but the Queenslander responded, both riders having to stand the bikes up on the fat part of the tyre in their quest for drive but it was the Ducati man that managed his Pirelli best to take second place.
Bryan Staring – Image by Rob Mott
Staring though untouchable, winning the race by eight-seconds.
Bryan Staring returning to Parc Ferme – Image by Rob Mott
Championship leader Cru Halliday took fourth place ahead of Josh Waters.
Troy Herfoss got the better of Daniel Falzon on the final lap to take sixth place.
Arthur Sissis a highly creditable eighth place ahead of Glenn Scott while Alex Phillis managed to push Mark Chiodo outside the top ten on the final lap.
Cru Halliday retains the championship lead while Bryan Staring moves up to second place, six-points adrift of Halliday, and one-point ahead of Jones.
Defending champion Troy Herfoss took 15-points for that sixth place and sits in fourth place in the championship, 16-points behind series leader Halliday.
A tale of two tyres…
Staring’s rear Dunlop on left – Jones’ Pirelli on right
Bryan Staring’s Dunlop on the left, the Pirelli on Mike Jones’ DesmoSport Ducati on the right – Image by THBCperformance Team Manager Kelvin Reilly congratulates Bryan Staring – Image by Rob Mott
ASBK Superbike Race Two Results
Bryan Staring – Kawasaki
Mike Jones – Ducati +7.908
Wayne Maxwell – Suzuki +8.111
Cru Halliday – Yamaha +10.233
Josh Waters – Suzuki +11.527
Troy Herfoss – Honda +15.235
Daniel Falzon – Yamaha +15.569
Arthur Sissis – Suzuki +16.174
Glenn Scott – Kawasaki +23.097
Alex Phillis – Suzuki +25.014
Mark Chiodo – Honda +25.158
Matt Walters – Kawasaki +28.867
Sloan Frost – Suzuki +33.654
Damon Rees – Honda +38.055
Brendan McIntyre – Suzuki +46.625
Evan Byles – Kawasaki +58.122
David Barker – Kawasaki +62.002
Phil Czaj – Aprilia +64.672
Matthew Tooley – Yamaha +75.173
Paul Van der Heiden – BMW +78.186
ASBK Superbike Race Two Results Bryan Staring – Kawasaki Mike Jones – Ducati +7.908 Wayne Maxwell – Suzuki +8.111 Image by TBG
ASBK Superbike Championship Standings
Cru Halliday 131
Bryan Staring 125
Mike Jones 124
Troy Herfoss 115
Josh Waters 111
Daniel Falzon 95
Wayne Maxwell 93
Matt Walters 78
Glenn Scott 77
Aiden Wagner 71
Mark Chiodo 67
Glenn Allerton 56
Arthur Sissis 55
Alex Phillis 54
Damon Rees 49
ASBK Superbike Race Two Results Bryan Staring – Kawasaki Mike Jones – Ducati +7.908 Wayne Maxwell – Suzuki +8.111 Image by Rob Mott
Australian Supersport Race Two
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport Race Two Image by Rob Mott
Reid Battye scored the holeshot but Nic Liminton squeezed past him a couple of turns into the eight-lap race. Toparis had not got a great start but steadily worked his way past Oli Bayliss and Aidan Hayes to move up to third place by halfway around the opening lap.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport Race Two Image by Rob Mott
Oli Bayliss was looking much more composed this morning, with none of the mistakes he made early in the opening ASBK Supersport race on Saturday afternoon. He was engaged in a strong tussle over fourth place throughout the opening lap with Broc Pearson and Aidan Hayes.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport Race Two Image by Rob Mott
Up front it was Nic Liminton being stalked by Tom Toparis, as Reid Battye struggled to keep that pair in sight. Pearson though put in a great second lap to break away from Bayliss and Hayes. Pearson then closed and passed Reid Battye, but Pearson then put together a poor lap that was a second slower than his previous, allowing the leading duo to really break away.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport Race Two Image by Rob Mott Broc Pearson leads Reid Battye
Aidan Hayes was tussling over fifth position with Oli Bayliss but Hayes went down with five laps to run. Bayliss had almost four-seconds on Luke Mitchell and was looking safe in that fifth place.
Nic Liminton went wide on the next lap and lost drive as his rear skidded across the dirt which allowed Tom Toparis to make an easy pass and quickly pull away from the young South Australian.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport Race Two Image by Rob Mott
Pearson had caught and passed Battye quite easily early in the race, where he was lapping more than a second faster than the Suzuki man. Immediately around that stage of the race though Pearson’s rear tyre went off badly and Battye was able to sneak back past and pull away from Pearson in the later laps.
The battle for sixth place was being waged forcefully between Dallas Skeer, Luke Mitchell, Zac Johnson and young Kiwi starlet Avalon Biddle was now catching fifth placed Oli Bayliss as the race wore on. As they got the last lap board Dallas Skeer got the better of Bayliss to take that fifth position, Bayliss was then shuffled down to ninth place as the whole group gazumped him, presumably his tyres toasted.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport Race Two victor Tom Toparis Image by Rob Mott
Tom Toparis went on to win by over six-seconds. Liminton was on a softer rear tyre that had allowed him to be strong early on but he paid the price as the laps progressed.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport Race Two second placed finisher Nic Liminton Image by Rob Mott
Reid Battye worked hard for that third position while Broc Pearson came home in fourth place. Dallas Skeer made it two Suzuki GSX-R600s in what is an otherwise Yamaha dominated Australian Supersport Championship.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport Race Two – Third placed Reid Battye interviewed in Parc Ferme Image by Rob Mott
Tom Toparis leads the series by 46-points over Liminton with Pearson a further eight-points adrift in third.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport Race Two Image by Rob Mott
Australian Supersport Race Two Results
Tom Toparis – Yamaha
Nic Liminton – Yamaha +6.144
Reid Battye – Suzuki +6.695
Broc Pearson – Yamaha +7.776
Dallas Skeer – Suzuki +15.150
Luke Mitchell – Yamaha +15.528
Avalon Biddle – Yamaha +15.703
Zac Johnson – Yamaha +16.761
Oli Bayliss – Yamaha +16.884
Andrew Edser – Kawasaki +23.856
Chris Quinn – Yamaha +24.341
Rhys Belling – Yamaha +26.111
Timothy Donnon – Suzuki +31.651
Jack Passfield – Yamaha +31.888
Australian Supersport Race Two Results Tom Toparis – Yamaha Nic Liminton – Yamaha +6.144 Reid Battye – Suzuki +6.695 Image by Rob Mott
ASBK SSP600 Championship Standings
Tom Toparis 178
Nic Liminton 132
Broc Pearson 124
Oli Bayliss 113
Reid Battye 109
Aidan Hayes 90
Dallas Skeer 73
Rhys Belling 63
Ty Lynch 58
Jack Passfield 53
Luke Mitchell 52
John Quinn 50
Callum Spriggs 49
Chris Quinn 46
Andrew Edser 39
Australian Supersport 300 Race Two
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport 300 Race Two Image by Rob Mott
Race one dominator Olly Simpson again got a fantastic start this morning as Senna Agius nipped at his hees along with Seth Crump.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport 300 Race Two – Senna Agius leads Image by Rob Mott
Simpson then looked to perhaps miss a gear or suffer some sort of minor hiccup, Agius managing to squeeze his way through to the lead shortly thereafter.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport 300 Race Two – Olly Simpson leads Seth Crump Image by Rob Mott
Simpson got the lead back and Crump added further insult by demoting Agius to third, but still ahead of championship leader Max Stauffer.
Crump hit the front early on the second lap as Agius pushed Simpson back to third. The South Australian was blooded in the Red Bull Rookies a few years ago though and knows how to put the elbows out, he did exactly that as he pushed past Agius.
2019 ASBK – Round Three – The Bend Supersport 300 Race Two – Seth Crump and Senna Agius doing battle Image by Rob Mott
Seth Crump then came under attack next up as Simpson forced his way through to the lead.
The 300 Supersport regulars though came back at him just as hard, a group of eight riders giving no quarter.
With four laps to run it was Agius, Crump, Simpson, Baker, Khouri, Ford, Stauffer and Levy all running nose-to-tail or side-by-side, depending on where they were on the circuit.
On the next lap though the tussle between Simpson and Agius went next level. Simpson took the inside line into a curve and chose to give no room to his sparring partner, forcing him off on to the grass. Luckily that rider did manage to recover and rejoin the circuit without major incident.
Two laps to go and Hunter Ford had just set a new lap record, 2m10.034, to hit the front for the first time. A couple of corners later Crump, Khouri and Ford went three-wide into a closing radius left-hander and, somehow, all came out the other side.
At the last lap board it was Simpson and Ford side-by-side, smashing elbows at the stripe hard enough to make each others machine violently wriggle. It was Seth Crump though that took the early lead on that final lap, but he was then quickly shuffled by Agius and Simpson, as they swapped positions.
Simpson then went back in front and it was elbows out again as Agius tried to make a move. Hunter Ford then went up the inside of Agius a couple of corners before the end. Simpson was a little wide at the final turn which allowed Hunter Ford to almost get him on the line, but Simpson held on by nine-thousandths of a second. Ford second, Agius third.
Australian Supersport 300 Race Two Results Olly Simpson – Yamaha Hunter Ford – Yamaha +.009 Senna Agius – 400 Kawasaki +0.244 TBG Image
Only a second covered the top-eight and rounding out that group was championship leader Max Stauffer.
I have to say that was a new level of aggression that we had not yet seen before in Australian 300 Supersport. It will be interesting to see if officials take any steps to try and rein them in, as it certainly doesn’t get more aggressive and ruthless than that without an invisible borderline being crossed. In my judgement, that line was not crossed today, but gee it did go oh so close…Crucially though, they were all left standing, somehow.
Mike Jones had shown incredible pace during qualifying to take pole position but it was another rider on the grid readying for the opening ASBK Superbike race perhaps even more full of confidence.
Bryan Staring had earlier captured victory in the Asia Superbike 1000 Championship race. Staring had been filling on for Kawasaki Thailand’s injured Thitipong Warokorn in the Asia Superbike category and had to best the likes of Broc Parkes and Yuki Ito in order to claim that victory.
Bryan Staring won the Asia Superbike race for Team Kawasaki Thailand earlier in the afternoon – TBG Image
Staring had only qualified sixth in the ASBK ranks, and thus would start the 10-lap Australian Superbike race from the outside of the second row, but, as normal, he was the leading Dunlop rider. The Asia Superbike race had been 12-laps, and it was in the latter third of that race where Staring had managed to break away from Parkes.
While the more fancied Pirelli runners in ASBK always seem to have the one-lap and early race pace, generally Staring suffers less from tyre wear on his Dunlops as the races wear on, would that make the difference today..? Who would be the ones to go hard from the start and who would be the ones to play themselves in a little slower to make sure they have tyres left at the end of the race…
The lights went out at 1550 and it was ex-speedway star Arthur Sissis that pulled one of his familiar holeshots to lead the field through turn one as Falzon and Jones gave chase. Alex Phillis and Glenn Allerton then went down together which brought the red flag out. Phillis looked to have had some small touch with another rider which then sent him off onto a collision course with Allerton. Phillis had gone over to Allerton and saw that the three-time champ was in a lot of pain and looking to be suffering some sort of leg injury and put his hand up to signal that Allerton was in need of some assistance, and that saw the official produce the red flag.
While cruel to then talk tactics.. The minds of riders and teams immediately started pondering as to whether the re-start would be over the full ten-lap race distance, or whether it would be shortened a lap, as with tyre wear critical that could play a big part in deciding the results…
Reigning Champion Troy Herfoss complained of a slipping clutch when he returned to the grid, but his Penrite Honda Team could only perhaps make some tweaks to the cable adjuster to try and prevent the inevitable, and tell their rider to take it easy at the re-start in the hope that it might last race distance.
Officials eventually announced that the re-start would be run under a reduced nine-lap distance and that due to the lengthy delay riders would also run another warm-up lap.
Daniel Falzon got the holeshot at the re-start and tipped into turn one ahead of Mike Jones while Mark Chiodo had also made a blinder and actually moved through to the race lead a couple of turns into the race! He not only took the lead, he started to actually gap Jones and Falzon!
Bryan Staring was working his way forward and was ahead of Wayne Maxwell and Cru Halliday halfway through lap one.
Mark Chiodo though still held the race lead as they started lap two and led by eight-tenths of a second! Mike Jones was in second place, Falzon third and Staring fourth. Troy Herfoss had got past Cru Halliday to move up to sixth place as they got stuck into lap two.
Falzon was tussling with Staring as Maxwell, Herfoss, Halliday and Waters which was allowing Jones and Chiodo to break away. Maxwell though then came together at turn one with Falzon and went down. Falzon had pulled out of the slipstream to take the inside line and when Maxwell tipped in he found his flank full of a YRT machine wearing the #25, and it was Maxwell the one left sliding along the tarmac…
Mark Chiodo continued to lead but was steadily being reeled in by Mike Jones as the race wore on. It looked like a matter of time before Jones would pounce but Chiodo was not making it easy for him, doing an absolutely sensational job up front, continually lapping faster than everyone else on circuit, apart from Jones.
Chiodo and Jones were the only ones to have dipped into the 1m52s and by half race distance they held a 2.3-second advantage over third placed Bryan Staring but not for long… As the race wore on Staring reeled the leading duo in, Chiodo looked to have burned his tyre up now and was starting to slow up Jones.
Mike Jones took the lead with four laps to run but then ran wide, perhaps suffering some tyre woes of his own.. Their to pounce now though was Bryan Staring and it was the Western Australian who moved up to second place and took station on the rear cowl of Chiodo’s Penrite Honda.
Staring then took the lead and immediately started to pull away. Jones relegated Chiodo to third place and the #30 Honda then started to fall into the clutches of championship leader Cru Halliday. With three laps to go Chiodo had five-seconds on his team-mate, defending ASBK Superbike Champion Troy Herfoss. Lapped traffic was now also starting to come into play.
Cru Halliday was looking stronger than second place Jones. The rear of the Ducati was really starting to move around, while Halliday was looking smooth in contrast. That situation started to change somewhat though as Halliday pushed harder and harder in his quest to try and get past Jones, and the rear of the YZF-R1 also started to get a case of the Mr Squiggles…
Bryan Staring had gone though. As they started the last lap he had a five-second buffer over Jones and Halliday, that duo now had put plenty of distance between them and Chiodo, but in turn Chiodo’s fourth place looked safe.
Bryan Staring celebrated his victory with a fine stand-up wheelie across the finish line. Halliday hounded Jones through the final turns but did not enough left to mount a real challenge and Jones takes second place, Halliday third.
Mark Chiodo an absolutely sensational fourth place. Such a shame that the young Victorian did not get on the podium to celebrate but wow, what a performance, and one that nobody expected.
Something must have happened to Herfoss on the final lap as he lost that fifth place and eventually crossed the line in 12th place, a disaster for the defending champion, but still better than a DNF…
Thus Daniel Falzon took fifth placed ahead of Josh Waters and Glenn Scott.
ASBK Superbike Race One Results
Bryan Staring – Kawasaki
Mike Jones – Ducati +4.651
Cru Halliday – Yamaha +4.845
Mark Chiodo – Honda +8.322
Daniel Falzon – Yamaha +15.203
Josh Waters – Suzuki +15.319
Glenn Scott – Kawsaki +17.965
Matt Walters – Kawasaki +17.822
Damon Rees – Honda +22.600
Lachlan Epis – Kawasaki +22.977
Arthur Sissis – Suzuki +23.432
Troy Herfoss – Honda +28.753
Ted Collins – BMW +29.536
Sloan Frost – Suzuki +32.950
Brendan McIntyre – Suzuki +36.011
David Barker – Kawasaki +53.427
Phil Czaj – Aprilia +57.622
Evan Byles – Kawasaki +60.628
Adam Senior – Yamaha +71.766
Paul Van der Heiden – BMW +71.968
ASBK Superbike Championship Standings
Cru Halliday 114
Mike Jones 104
Bryan Staring 100
Troy Herfoss 100
Josh Waters 95
Daniel Falzon 81
Wayne Maxwell 75
Aiden Wagner 71
Matt Walters 69
Glenn Scott 65
Mark Chiodo 57
Glenn Allerton 56
Ted Collins 49
Alex Phillis 43
Damon Rees 42
ASBK Supersport
ASBK Supersport 600 competitors did not turn a wheel at all on Saturday until their Q2 session at 1435. Tom Toparis had been on provisional pole thanks to his stunning lap yesterday afternoon in QP1, a 1m55.964, almost a full-second quicker than second placed Broc Pearson.
The rider that really needed to have a problem free run in Q2 was Nic Liminton, the local lad was quickest during the Thursday practice session but some rim-tyre problems during the opening qualifying session prevented him from making a competitive time in Q1. Liminton though quickly made amends with a 1m57.030 early in Q2 saw him on the front of the grid but then went out again later in the session to drop in a 1m56.140 to go P2 on combined times.
Nic Liminton exits pit-lane – Image by Rob Mott
In fact Liminton was actually more than two-tenths quicker than Toparis’ record lap at the second split but could not maintain that level of rage all the way to the flag.
Nic Liminton – TBG Image
Next time around though Liminton did go better again! Half-a-second quicker at the second and third splits… Could he keep it going all the way to the flag… No, he was baulked by a slower rider but he was on course for pole position, perhaps even a mid 1m55s, but we will never know…
Tom Toparis though had been putting in a string of fast laps as he worked on a set-up that would look after his tyres, and at the end of a reasonable length stint Toparis narrowly bettered his record lap from yesterday, down to 1m55.923, but then to underline his long-run pace he then bettered it again with a 1m55.798 as the session wound up. Despite the bursts of speed from Liminton it seemed clear that Toparis enjoys a clear edge over his competition here today.
Tom Toparis – Image by Rob Mott
ASBK SSP600 Qualifying Combined Times
Tom Toparis – Yamaha 1m55.798 Q2
Nic Liminton – Yamaha 1m56.140 Q2
Broc Pearson – Yamaha 1m56.867
Reid Battye – Suzuki 1m57.403 Q2
Luke Mitchell – Yamaha 1m57.729 Q2
Aidan Hayes – Yamaha 1m58.184
Oli Bayliss – Yamaha 1m58.382 Q2
Avalon Biddle – Yamaha 1m58.929 Q2
Dallas Skeer – Suzuki 1m59.120 Q2
Zac Johnson – Yamaha 1m59.335 Q2
Chris Quinn – Yamaha 1m59.371 Q2
Rhys Belling – Yamaha 1m59.376 Q2
Timothy Donnon – Suzuki 2m00.243 Q2
Andrew Edser – Kawasaki 2m01.482
Ben Liebig – Triumph 2m01.566 Q2
Jack Passfield – Yamaha 2m01.977 Q2
John Quinn – Triumph 2m03.384
Bronson Pickett – Yamaha 2m05.247 Q2
ASBK SSP600 Race One
Tom Toparis led the field away late on Saturday afternoon as Nic Liminton gave chase, that pair immediately started to pull away from their pursuers.
That chasing pack was being led by Luke Mitchell from Reid Battye and Broc Pearson. Oli Bayliss was there also early on but a couple of small mistakes on the opening lap saw him run off the circuit a few times which proved a costly mistake.
As the race wore on Reid Battye was
ASBK SSP600 Race One Results
TBC
ASBK SSP600 Championship Standings TO BE UPDATED
ASBK SSP300 Race One
Local favourite Olly Simpson started the seven-lap Supersport 300 race from pole and duly led the 35-rider field through turn one as Seth Crump, Hunter Ford and Brandon Demmery giving chase.
Hunter Ford though then came down while Seth Crump also ran momentarily off track. The pair had been tussing for position but taking slightly different lines and Hunter Ford collected the rear of Crump, pushing Crump sideways but while the son of three-time World Speedway Champion Jason managed to recover, there was no saving the front end for Hunter Ford. These were the two riders that looked most likely to be able to take the battle up to Simpson but with Ford out, and Crump losing a dozen positions, the local lad now had it all to himself up front.
The battle for the final positions on the rostrum though was far from over as Zac Levy, Locky Taylor, Senna Agius and Harry Khouri brushed elbows and traded paint at almost every turn. As the race wore on that quartet turned into a nine-rider affair as Max Stauffer, Brandon Demmery, Ben Baker, Travis Hall and Kyle O’Connell joined the party as the race hit half-distance.
Early on the penultimate lap Max Stauffer pushed his way forward to second but ran wide into the dirt and lost a couple of those positions again. At the last lap board Simpson led by 10-seconds while Demmery was trying to hold on to second position from a charging horde.
Ben Baker led onto the main straight but a small loss of traction at lean cost him on the run to the line and allowed Harry Khouri to get him on the run to the line.
Brandon Demmery took fourth ahead of Locky Taylor, Senna Agius, Zac Levy, Max Stauffer while Travis Hall rounded out that group in ninth.
Few competitors braved the wet track this morning at The Bend. The rain had fell in the early hours but despite a stiff breeze, the track seemed to be holding on to the water, and a dry line was stubbornly refusing to appear around the 18-turn, 4.945-kilometre ‘International Circuit’ layout.
Only four ASBK Superbike competitors braved the wet circuit in the FP2 session this morning which saw Lachlan Epis enjoy seeing his name at the top of an Australian Superbike time-sheet for the first time.
Lachlan Epis topped the wet morning session that saw only four Superbike competitors brave the track – Image Rob Mott
It was not until around 10am that things really started to improve but even an hour later when the Asia Superbike 1000 Championship riders took to the track for their 40-minute FP3 session conditions were still far from perfect.
The important session for ASBK Superbike competitors did not take place until after 1330 and by that time the track was in good shape but the wind was still causing riders plenty of problems.
Under a new qualifying format for ASBK this season the Friday afternoon session is dubbed ‘Timed Practice’, and it is the times from this session that decide the nine riders that automatically qualify for the Q2 session just before midday on Saturday. The riders from tenth back in the Timed Practice session fight it out in a Q1 session, with the top three then being promoted into Q2, making for a 12-rider tussle over the first four rows of the grid.
The opening 10-lap ASBK Superbike race is then scheduled to take place at 1540 on Saturday afternoon with the remaining two races in this triple-header round slated for 1020 and 1505 on Sunday.
Superbike competitors did get an hour long session late on Thursday afternoon (Link) that saw Josh Waters top proceedings ahead of Bryan Staring and Wayne Maxwell. To be honest, the Thursday session is probably a better gauge of potential performance come the races than today’s chronos.
Josh Waters was quickest at The Bend on Thursday – TBG Image
With Staring pulling double duty across both ASBK Superbike, and also a stand-in role for Team Kawasaki Thailand in the Asian Road Racing Championships Superbike class, the extra track time to work on tyre longevity will be invaluable for the Western Australian. Staring was second to Broc Parkes in the FP3 session for the ARRC Superbikes.
Bryan Staring on the Thailand Kawasaki Asian Road Racing Superbike – Image Rob Mott
Local favourite and YRT Superbike rider Daniel Falzon was the early pace-setter when ASBK Superbike Timed Practice got underway at 1340 with the 25-year-old setting a 1m52.769 on his first flying lap before then returning to the pits, where he remained for the rest of the session.
The 30-minute session was approaching its halfway mark before Troy Herfoss, Glenn Allerton and Wayne Maxwell bothered turning a wheel. They circulated slowly on their exit lap as they looked for a good track position that would give them clear air for a time attack lap that would secure them an automatic entry in to Saturday’s Q2 session.
Wayne Maxwell – Image by Rob Mott
Herfoss went fourth quickest on his second flying lap but was bettered by Wayne Maxwell who moved up to P3 with ten-minutes left in the session.
Mike Jones – Image by Rob Mott
Mike Jones was in P2 after recording a 1m52.943 on his first flying lap early in the session, similarly Bryan Staring had put a quick one in early and was P3 before being relegated to P4 by Maxwell. Josh Waters then pushed Herfoss back to P6 while championship leader Cru Halliday was P7 ahead of Mark Chiodo while Glenn Allerton rounded out the top nine. With five-minutes remaining in the session that entire top ten was sat in pit-lane…
Cru Halliday, Mark Chiodo and Glenn Allerton did go out again to try and better their times but failed to make any progress thus that is how it stands until qualifying gets underway tomorrow just before midday. I have to say it was a far from scintillating day for the Aussie Superbike category today but that should turn around come qualifying tomorrow and when the action starts proper with the opening 10-lap bout at 1540 Saturday afternoon.
The Asia Talent Cup Round 2 in Thailand saw Sho Nishimura compound his lead, despite claiming two second place finishes, with the wins shared between Afridza Munandar in Race 1 and Tatchakorn Buasri in Race 2, with Nishimura’s consistency proving key across the weekend.
Australian Jacob Roulstone claimed seven championship points across the weekend
Race 1 also saw Samuel Voight claim 12th for four championship points, while Jacob Roulstone was 14th with two points. In Race 2 Luke Power came home tenth for six points, while Roulstone was 11th for five.
Race One
Afridza Munandar took his first ever Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup win in Race 1 at Chang International Circuit, pitching it to perfection in a frantic final corner to emerge ahead of Japanese duo Sho Nishimura and Takuma Matsuyama. As ever, everything went down to the wire in a last dash shuffle, but the Indonesian emerged ahead to open his victory account.
Afridza Munandar leads Takuma Matsuyama
At lights out it was home hero and pacesetter in practice Tatchakorn Buasri who got the holeshot from pole, but Matsuyama struck early and made it past two riders in Turn 1 to take the lead. From there it was the Japanese rider dueling Buasri initially, but a group was on the chase comprised Adenanta Putra, Munandar, Nishimura, Warit Thongnoppakun, Piyawat Patoomyos, Adbul Mutaquim and Shoki Igarashi. As the race settled into a rhythm, however, it was Matsuyama leading a group of five at the head of the race and Thongnoppakun seeming to start to fade.
Soon after though, the Thai rider got his head down and closed back in on the leading quintet of Matsuyama, Putra, Munandar, Buasri and Nishimura to make a lead group of six, but it wasn’t long until Indonesian rookie Herjun Firdais was able to get in the mix too. Chopping and changing and jostling for position, the laps ticked down until the hour of reckoning: the final lap.
Asia Talent Cup – Round 2 – Chang International Circuit
By then Firdaus was struggling to tag back on to the group and the stage was set for a six-man tussle at the final corner – exactly what it became. Buasri seemed to have found himself a little out of position for an assault on the win and Putra had suffered a big moment not long before, but the final turn, as it would turn out, belonged to Munandar.
The Indonesian went bravely round the outside, able to keep his speed up and avoid the squabble at the apex before gunning it to the line in style, just ahead of those nipping at his heels.
The Race 1 finish line saw five riders within 0.2s
It was elbows out to complete the podium though, with Nishimura just able to hold off Matsuyama in some Qatar deja vu to keep his Championship lead, with home rider Buasri left off the podium in fourth. For the polesitter and the pacesetter for most of the weekend, that will be something he’ll be desperate to improve on in Race 2.
Australian Samuel Voight
Putra completed the top five ahead of Thongnoppakun, with impressive rookie Firdaus in seventh. Fellow debutant, Malaysian Idhil Mahadi, took P8 and a big step forward from Round 1, with Patoomyos, Syarifuddin Azman and Mutaquim all in extremely close company just behind.
Australian Harrison Voight, Hildhan Kusuma, Jacob Roulstone and Rei Wakamatsu completed the points, with Igarashi the final finisher after sliding out at the final corner mid-race but getting back on.
Asia Talent Cup – Chang International Circuit Race 1
Afridza Munandar
Sho Nishimura +0.074 20
Takuma Matsuyama +0.094 16
Tatchakorn Buasri +0.161 13
Adenanta Putra +0.166 11
Warit Thongnoppakun +0.290 10
Herjun Firdaus +2.788 9
Muhammad Idil Fitri Bin Mahadi +9.848 8
Piyawat Patoomyos +9.942 7
Syarifuddin Azman +10.101 6
Abdul Mutaquim +10.165 5
Samuel Voight +20.531 4
Hildhan Kusuma +20.711 3
Jacob Roulstone +46.688 2
Rei Wakamatsu +1’12.207 1
Shoki Igarashi +1’12.208 0
Race Two
Tatchakorn Buasri got a taste of home glory as his took victory in a dramatic Race 2 in Thailand, with the race red-flagged and the Thai rider in the perfect position at the perfect time after fighting in the front group throughout from pole.
Points leader Sho Nishimura took second despite a crash as the race result was counted back to the last time over the line, escaping a disaster for his title hopes, with Race 1 winner Afridza Munandar completing the podium.
Asia Talent Cup – Round 2 – Chang International Circuit
Buasri got a barnstormer of a start from pole, taking off into clean air as Adenanta Putra gunned it behind him and was able to close in for an attack at Turn 3. The Thai rider hit back soon though and Takuma Matsuyama closed in on the duo in the lead as the long freight train off the line remained incredibly close behind them.
With everyone having gained a little more experience of Chang International Circuit in Race 1, it was closer on Sunday as that huge group of riders remained tightly packed together.
Two or three abreast at times, the squabble saw the majority of the field fighting it out in the initial stages. The lilkes of Buasri, Matsuyama, Putra, Munandar, Warit Thongnoppakun, Nishimura, Idil Mahadi and Piyawat Patoomyos were just hundredths apart and the fight for the lead stretched from first place back into the distance.
Tatchakorn Buasri in the lead in Race 2
As the laps ticked down, however, it was a 12-rider train that emerged at the front and was able to make a bit of a break for it, with the racing and jostling for position keeping the same frantic pace. With seven laps to go, a crash for Syarifuddin Azman saw the Malaysian fall out of contention and the group became 11, but the battle was headed for an as-yet unknown dramatic crescendo.
With three laps to go, Abdul Mutaqim suffered a problem and dropped back from the group, making it a ten rider train settling in for the final fight. But then drama suddenly struck as Championship leader Nishumura slid out, the crash seeming like a disaster for the rider who won the first three races of the season. The drama, however, was far from over…
Takuma Matsuyama
Lightning struck twice in as many minutes in the front group as a crash between Firdaus and Mahadi took them out of the mix, the incident bringing the Red Flag out soon after. That meant the result was counted back to the last time over the line and it was home hero Buasri who’d been leading the pack then; delight for the Thai rider after missing out on a podium in Race 1.
It was a stroke of luck for Nishimura just behind in second as the Japanese rider, by virtue of having been able to remount after his crash, gets classified second – the position he was in over the line before the incident.
Race 1 winner Munandar completed the podium for a top weekend in Thailand, with Putra in fourth and Matsuyama locking out the top five as he loses some ground in the title fight. Thongnoppakun took sixth on home turf, ahead of Shoki Igarashi and Patoomyos. Mutaqim takes P9, mitigating the issue he suffered after the group crossed the line for the final time.
Luke Power completed the top 10 in Race 2
Australian Luke Power won the battle to complete the top ten and pipped compatriot Jacob Roulstone, with Ryosuke Bando in P12, ahead of countryman Rei Wakamatsu. The final finisher was Kadir Erbay, after Hildhan Kusuma and Harrison Voight tangled at the final corner earlier in the race and failed to finish.
Mahadi was taken to hospital for further and final check ups.
That’s it from Buriram and another top weekend in Thailand, with Nishimura retaining his advantage in the standings as we head for Round 3. That’s at Sepang International Circuit as the Cup race alongside Malaysian Superbike from the 14th to 16th July.
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
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.
