Rough weekend for Aussies at ARRC Round Three in Japan

2023 FIM Asia Road Racing Championships
Round Three – Sugo, Japan

Asia Superbike 1000cc Race 1

As the weather condition settled, the riders of ASB1000 were off to a great start in Sungo, Takume leading Kota Arakawa, Markus close behind. Takume set a blistering pace, extending his lead to a second by the end of the first lap.

Malaysian rider Azlan Shah was trying to catch up, while pressured by Murayama, and from P6, Kasma was picking up speed in a bid to close the gap with riders ahead of him.

Kota Arakawa closed in on Takume as intensity built up, while Azlan managed to pass teammate Markus. Kasma then found his way past Markus and went on to attack Azlan – striking up the inside.

Kasma was on the charge and went full steam ahead to overtake Kota Arakawa. Behind, Markus picked up speed and made it past Azlan.

Kasma was soon breathing down Takume’s neck and with 8 laps to go, Kasma worked his moves from the outside to take lead. Markus in third, Haruki working on his strategy in fourth.

While Kasma went on to build a wide gap, Markus inched closer towards Takume and would eventually make his way into second.

With four laps left to run, Andi trailed Takume diligently, finding ways to strike, finding his way past and speeding off with two laps remaining.

The final lap saw Kasma in the lead, well clear of Markus, with Andi losing the final podium position to a hard charging Keisuke Maeda.

Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin

“In the beginning, I did not feel confident but I kept my eyes on the front group. I realised then that I had the potential to move forward therefore I tried to close the gaps lap-by-lap. My strategy worked and I am so thankful for my first win this season. There is another race tomorrow and I am keeping my fingers crossed to repeat the success.”

Lachlan Epis finished the opening race in 12th, Ant West posting a DNF result.

Asia Superbike 1000 cc Race 1 Results

Asia Superbike 1000cc Race 2

The second Superbike race was a high-speed chase once again, Markus taking lead in the first lap followed by Haruki, Takume and Azlan Shah. By the end of lap two, these four riders had opened up a gap with the chasing pack.

Markus held a confident lead, Takume piling on the pressure behind, onto Haruki. By the end of lap three, Azlan was back in the pits.

The trailing troop was led by Kota Arakawa, followed by Rei Toshima, and Kasma.

There was a sizeable gap between Takume and Kasma, however with eight laps to go, Haruki crashed into turn one, opening the path for Kasma into third.

Luck was not on his side however, Kasma taking a fall at turn one, leaving Markus free of any threats unless he made a mistake.

Almost 20-seconds behind Markus were Andi Farid, Bin Zaidi and Arakawa, spanning second through fourth respectively.

Ant West had a better second race, finishing inside the top-10 with a seventh place result, with Lachlan Epis a DNS.

Reiterberger leads the Superbike class on 118-points, Noguchi second (92), Bin Zaidi third (81). Westy is 11th with 23-points to his name, Lachlan Epis 14th, with 20.

Markus Reiterberger

“My weekend was almost perfect apart from the second place yesterday. I was still happy with the outcome yesterday but I can’t imagine a better race than today. It was really good. I could push from the very beginning as I have planned. I also studied the lap time from Noguchi as he was the strongest rider. I noticed that I could do a few laps very quick and then stabilise my lap time. So, I followed through with my plan and it happened. When I don’t hear the sound of machine and when I noticed the gaps, I relaxed a little so that I could keep it together till the end. Suddenly, I saw it was more than 17s since many riders crashed too. I thank my team for the machine.”

Asia Superbike 1000 cc Race 2 Results

Asia Superbike 1000 cc Standings

SuperSports 600 cc Race 1

The opening Supersport race saw Keito Abe the winner, 2.782s clear of Soichuro Minamimoto, with Thailand’s Nakarain Atiratphuvapat rounding out the podium and just clear of fourth placed Helmi Azman.

Keito Abe

“The race was very difficult. Even more so with the wet circuit condition. I was scared but right now, I had a good feeling about the situation. I kept pushing myself until the end. So, I am truly happy with my achievements for the day. There is another race tomorrow and I want to win it!”

It was then a small gap back to Azroy Anuar, Motoharu Ito and Yuta Date in fifth through seventh.

A much more sizeable gap was seen to the red of the top-10, Pratama, Kaewsonthi and Rathapong.

SuperSports 600 cc Race 1 Results

SuperSports 600 cc Race 2

The second Supersport race was a tighter fought affair for top honours, Khairul Pawl and Keito Abe separated by just 0.013s across the finish line, with nothing to separate the duo.

Khairul Idham Pawl

“Today was an amazing feat and I am beyond grateful for the win. Yesterday, I struggled so much with the wet conditions so I tried all out today to make the most of it. Starting from the 10th position is not easy but I tried to close the gaps ahead of me, one-by-one. Most importantly, I was aware that I cannot afford to make any mistakes. I kept my focus on the front rider and it worked very well for me. In the 2nd last lap, I was behind Keito and I know he is very strong on his home ground. In the last lap, last corner, it was a very tight line so I worked on my speed instead to ensure that I could make it to the chequered flag first before Keito does.”

Helmi Azman completed the podium 0.321 off the lead, but well clear of all chasing riders.

Less than a second separated fourth through sixth, with Minamimoto, Nagao and Nishimura holding the placings.

Idham Pawl holds the Supersport standings lead, 118-points to Keito Abe’s 91, with Nakarin and Helmi Azman nipping at his heels, on 90 and 88-points respectively.

SuperSports 600 cc Race 2 Results

SuperSports 600 cc Standings

Asia Production 250 cc Race 1

It was a no-shocker in the Asia Production 250cc when Rheza Danica Ahrens of the ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM charged towards the chequered flag well ahead of the rest of the field for an impressive win in Race 1.

Rheza Danica Ahrens

“After the practice sessions yesterday, we have achieved quite a good lap time so we were aware of our strengths and the capacities of the machine. During the race, I was able to manage my rhythm well and I avoided making mistakes on each lap. I know that Muklada was right behind me at each lap but I kept my focus on creating some gap towards the last few laps. For the remaining rounds of the season, I aim to give my best shot even though there have been some changes after the RPM cut. It definitely will require more work but I will do my best.”

The final podium positions were harder fought, with Muklada Sarapuech and Veda Pratama separated by 0.06s across the finish line, Muklada coming out on top.

Herjun Firdaus and Toreoottullah rounded our the top five, marking four Indonesian riders in the top five.

Asia Production 250 cc Race 1 Results

Asia Production 250 cc Race 2

In an unfortunate twist of fate, the battle between the trio of ASTRA HONDA riders for the best position resulted in Veda rubbing against Rheza, causing the leader and Irfan to crash.

Herjun took the opportunity to claim the win, ahead of Aiki Iyoshi of Motul Sniper Manual Tech Racing Team who was trailing behind. Teammate, Veda who had avoided the fall took the final spot.

Herjun Atna Firdaus

“I finished 4th in Race 1 but as soon as that was over, we analysed the outcome closely and made some fine-tuning on the settings. During the warm up earlier, we had a positive result. For this race, my machine was in a perfect condition but there are three more rounds to go after this so there is a lot of work that needs to be done. I hope to win the championship so let’s see how that goes!”

Ahrens leads the standings on 122-points, Pratama the runner-up for now on 100, with Firdaus just a point off on 99.

Asia Production 250 cc Race 2 Results

Asia Production 250 cc Standings

Underbone 150 cc Race 1

The opening Underbone race was tight fought, with the top nine riders separated by 0.665-seconds.

The leading duo of Izzat Bahauddin and Aji Trilaksana crossed the line in first and second, just 0.095s between the two.

Nazirul Izzat Md Bahauddin

“I am truly grateful for the win today. During the race earlier, everyone was at their best. It was a huge battle among all of us. I stayed focused and tried to get ahead. I utilised the strategies to ensure that I stayed among the front troop. As a rider with a teammate, I always try to help out in whichever way I could and the sign language earlier was an indication to him to strategise.”

Third through ninth were a little more distant, starting from 0.531 off the lead, down to that 0.665s. Wardhana took the final podium position ahead of Vittoni, Wello, Mauricio, Rofa, Inguito and Fairues.

Underbone 150 cc Race 1 Results

Underbone 150 cc Race 2

Race two of the Underbone class was even fighter fought, just 0.198s separating the top four, Inguito claiming the win ahead of Bahauddin and Wardhana.  Vittoni had to settle for fourth, a tenth of a second off a podium placing.

John Emerson Inguito

“I am extremely happy with my achievement today. It is a dream come true for the team and I therefore, I am truly glad to have made them happy. UB150 has always been a challenging feat and everyone has an opportunity to win. The race was not easy at all but my experiences have been key to this success today. To all my Pilipino fans, supporters of 4S1M, thank you all so much. I could not have made it without you.”

Rounding out the top-10 were Peerapong and Izzat Zaidi, the two separated by 0.001s. The rest of the top 10 were much most distant, at least 10s off pace and included Anh Tuan, Syazras, Thonggerdloung and Sanluang.

Leading the Underbone standings is Izzat Bahauddin (91-points), from Vittoni (72), Wardhana (69) and Wawan Wello (68).

Underbone 150 cc Race 2 Results

Underbone 150 cc Standings

TVS Asia One Make Championship Race 1

Hiroki took a clear win in the opening TVS Asia One Make race, almost six-seconds clear of his nearest competition.

Hiroki Ono

“So the race was awesome. I kept focusing on and monitoring the riders trailing me. For me, it was an easy feat furthermore with only 6 laps. It did not strain me physically and mentally. But, there is another race tomorrow and I am certainly looking forward to it.”

That battle went to Decky and Ramdan, who battled right to the end, with Decky Aldy claiming second.

Ramdam Rosli and Muzakkir Mohamed rounded out the top five, more distantly.

TVS Asia One Make Championship Race 1 Results

TVS Asia One Make Championship Race 2

Ramdan Rosli and Decky Aldy were separated by 0.393 in Race Two, the Malaysian taking the win and closing in on the standings lead as a result.

Fugo Tanaka completed the podium in third, with Vorapong Malahuan having to settle for fourth. Piyawat Malahuan was fifth, narrowly beating Muzakkir across the finish line.

Ramdan Rosli

“I was prepared to put up a fight with Ono as we have worked on our machine’s suspension. I was quite confident to embrace the battle in Race 2. But sadly, he faced some mechanical issue with the machine. Anyway, I am very happy with the outcome of the race today. It is never an easy feat, furthermore with my body weight in comparison to other riders but again, I am really grateful for this win.”

In the Asia One Make standings, Vorapong holds the lead on 93-points, Muzakkir on 92, Decky Aldy on 88, and Ramdan Rosli on 86, making for a tight fought series.

TVS Asia One Make Championship Race 2 Results

TVS Asia One Make Championship Standings