BURIRAM - The FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC), Round 1 today witnessed remarkable action in all classes in Race 1 held under weather condition with temperatures soaring above 50 degrees at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand.
Haruki Noguchi of SDG-MS-HARC-Por.Honda.ph registerdc his first win of the season in the Asia Superbike 1000cc class.
This was despite Malaysia's Md Zaqhwan Zaidi of the Honda Asia-Dream Racing clocking a new lap record in qualifying at one minute 34.844 seconds.
His closest contender Markus Reiterberger of OneXOX BMW TKKR Team made his fastest at 1’35’008s while Japanese star Noguchi clocked in third fastest at 1’35:045s.
"The qualifying tyres do make a whole lot of difference due to the compound that varies from the race tyres. In the beginning, I tested my rhythm for a few laps with the medium compound. It was later that we changed to the qualifying tyres and I noticed the improved lap time. But I did not expect to meet the mark of 1’34s so I am very thrilled about it," said Zaqhwan.
Zaqhwan went on a blistering opening lap as soon the race flagged off. He did not waste a moment at Turn 1 when he took lead and surged ahead. Reiterberger was determined to stay close behind.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Andi Farid was locked in a battle for third with Noguchi. At Turn 7 of the third lap, Noguchi made a bold move from the inside and snatched third spot. With temperatures soaring, it was a heated scene on the circuit with the risk of tires burning out quickly.
Into the sixth lap, Noguchi once again made his move at sector 2 when he took on Reiterberger snatched second position.
He then picked up speed as he went on to take Zaqhwan down.
Into the eighth lap, Noguchi succeeded. Into the 11th lap, Azlan Shah Kamarulzaman of the OneXOX TKKR Team, who started from the back picked up speed behind Zaqhwan and made a bold move. In a twist of fate, the top 3 positions changed quickly with Azlan leading and Noguchi fighting back for his spot. Meanwhile Zaqhwan could not keep up and by the last turn, it was either Noguchi or Azlan before the former bolted ahead. Haruki bagged victory at 20’54:882s.
"I am very happy for the win. During the test and practice, I did not do very well and struggled quite a bit. Moreover with the major injury on my back that I sustained last year. However, the team has been truly supportive and I owe it to them for this success,” said Noguchi.
Azlan took second spot and pole sitter Zaqhwan had to be satisfied with third.
The SuperSports 600cc Race 1 saw Khairul Idham Pawi of Boon Siew Honda Racing Team put in a strong performance on board the Honda CBR600RR to take victory from pole, having topped the charts in qualifying with the best lap time of 1’39:000s.
Thailand's Nakarin Atiratphuvapat of Honda Racing Thailand recorded second fastest lap at 1’39:015s, while Malaysian Muhammad Helmi Azman of Boon Siew Honda Racing was third fastest at 1’39:061s.
The riders were off to a flying start as the race flagged off.
Nakarin immediately made a swift move on the inside and took lead at turn 1 however, Khairul was quick to recover his position. At P3, Soichiro Minamato of AkenoSpeed Yamaha was in second, while Helmi trailed him closely.
With the riders aligned quite comfortably in their positions, it was a matter of closing the gaps between Khairul and Nakarin however the former was steadily leading the race. Helmi then upped his pace and switched places with Minamoto at the end of lap 4.
At the end of lap 6, the trio in front was keeping it consistent.
With 3 more laps to go, Helmi was playing catch up with Nakarin but the latter pushed himself further towards Khairul. During the last lap, Nakarin put intense pressure on Khairul, trying his best to overtake and he did it at turn 5. The heated battle continued as Khairul strategised to make his comeback. At the last turn, Khairul worked his magic and grabbed the opportunity from the inside before bolting ahead towards victory.
"My team worked really hard for this weekend. In the beginning of the race, I tried to pull away with about 0.5s gap however by the sixth and seventh lap, I did not have much grip on the tires so I calmed down a little and tried to manage the rider behind me. However, Cip managed to overtake me and I followed him closely. Unfortunately, he braked a little too late and that was my shot to victory," said Khairul.
Nakarin took second spot and Helmi took third.
The Asia Production 250cc class saw a clean sweep of podium spots by Indonesia's Astra Honda Racing Team with Rheza Danica Ahrens taking victory ahead of teammates Veda Ega Pra Tama and Herjun Atna Firdaus.
"It was a quite tough race today especially with the heat steaming up the track. In the beginning, I kept my consistency intact by being completely focused. I presume that Race 2 will be equally hard but I will do my best tomorrow,” said Rheza.
The Underbone 150cc class saw Malaysia's Md Shafiq Rasol of the OneXOX TKKR Racing Team take the first win of the season ahead of Md Haziq Md Fairues of the UMA Racing Yamaha Mahu Motor Team Asia and Indonesia's Wawan Wello of the Pitsbike JRT Tech 2 Oneway Racing team.
"First of all, thank you to my team for the opportunity to race in this category. During the first few laps, I took my time among the back group. I did not push myself too much. It was not until the last few laps that I worked on my moves to take lead. That worked for me,” said Shafiq.
The TVS Asia One Make Championship Race 1 saw Vorapong Malahuan of Thailand take victory at his home circuit, ahead of compatriot Piyawat Patoomyos and Taiyo Saito of Japan.
The action continues with Race 2 tomorrow.