PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship
Round 6 – Losail Circuit, Qatar (12-14 Dec)
Qualifying Results
INAGAKI TAKES CRUCIAL LOSAIL POLE WITH NEW LAP RECORD
Akeno Speed Racing’s Makoto Inagaki powered to a fantastic pole position in a hard-fought qualifying session for the final round of the PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on Saturday.
The seasoned contender shocked rivals to steal pole in the last five minutes of the qualifying session with a record lap time of 2’04.646s replacing the previous 2’05.379s benchmark set by reigning champion, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman last season.
Lining alongside Inagaki are SuperSports 600cc title candidates Yuki Ito (PETRONAS Hong Leong Yamaha) and Zamri Baba (Musashi Boon Siew Honda) with 2’04.727s and 2’04.743s respectively.
Second row is made up of Zaqhwan Zaidi 2’04.851s followed by Yudhistira (Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing) 2’04.958s and championship leader, Katsuaki Fujiwara (BEET Kawasaki Racing) with 2’05.186s.
Makoto Tamada would be the last of the riders to break last season’s qualifying lap record. He will take off from third row having clocked his best lap time at 2’05.324s alongside Jakkrit Swangswat (AP Honda Thailand) and Tomoyoshi Koyama (T.Pro Yuzy Honda) with 2’05.391s and 2’05.450s respectively.
“It’s great satisfaction to finally obtain pole – quite unexpected too! We have been through some difficult times over the past few seasons and to finally improve feels good. We have always worked well since the start of the year, but this weekend went even better because we managed to find a good set-up from the start and only had to work on fine-tuning the bike, and session after session this made all the difference,” said Inagaki.
He added, “Right now the goal is maintain if not improve our pace for both races. It’s been quite a while since we stepped on to the podium and hopefully we can achieve that tomorrow. It will be a great way to sign off the season.”
SuperSports 600cc
1.Makoto Inagaki (Yamaha) 2’04.646s 2.Yuki Ito (Yamaha) 2’04.727s 3.Zamri Baba (Honda) 2’04.851s 4.Zaqhwan Zaidi (Honda) 2’04.958s 5.Yudhistira (Kawasaki) 2’04.958s
GUPITA ON POLE FOR LOSAIL
Underbone 130cc leader, Gupita Kresna returned from a low-key run in Friday’s opening practice to seize pole position for the final round of the 2014 PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.
The Kawasaki KYT Rextor Manual Tech rider will start from front row alongside Indonesian compatriot, Ferlando Herdian (Faito Factory Racing) and Kazuki Masaki (Team Honda RSC).
Gupita who had also topped the final practice earlier on Saturday took pole with a record lap time of 2’31.713s, 0.479 seconds ahead of Ferlando who posted the next best effort in 2’32.192s while Friday’s quickest rider, Masaki settled for third with 2’33.097s having struggled to improve his pace.
Closest title contender, Norizman Ismail (Harian Metro Y-TEQ SCK Honda Racing) will start from second row with 2’33.188s, lining alongside Izzat Zaidi Salehan (Motul Yamaha YY Pang) and Amirul Ariff Musa (T.Pro Yuzy Honda) with 2’33.518s and 2’33.523s respectively.
Hokky Krisdianto, Ahmad Fazrul Sham and Mohd Rozaiman completes third row followed by Reza Fahlevy, Rusman Fadil and Taiga Hada on fourth.
PETRONAS Hong Leong Yamaha’s Affendi Rosli and Ahmad Fazli Sham is set to take off from the back of the grid having suffered technical issues in the 40-minute qualifying session.
Leading the championship with 148 points, Gupita only needs another 20 points to clinch the Underbone crown tomorrow and if he succeeds, not only will it be his maiden Asian title but it will also mark Indonesia’s fifth consecutive year winning the Underbone title.
“We had a good pace in the qualifying but I don’t think starting from pole makes much of a difference because eventually everyone will group together. By doing this we can reserve the engine power for the sprint in the final lap. Trying to pull away from the pack early is a very risky move,” said Gupita.
He added, “Nevertheless, I will give my best and try to win here at Losail. Not just for me, but for the team, sponsors, family, supporters and more importantly, for Indonesia. I want to make my country proud!”
Underbone 130cc
1.Gupita Kresna (Kawasaki) 2’31.713s 2.Ferlando Herdian (Yamaha) 2’32.192s 3.Kazuki Masaki (Honda) 2’33.097s 4.Norizman Ismail (Honda) 2’33.188s 5.Izzat Zaidi Salehan (Yamaha) 2’33.518s
POLEMAN KHAIRUL LOOKING TO GO OUT IN STYLE
Saturday’s Asia Dream Cup qualifying at the final leg of the 2014 PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship saw Malaysian, Khairul Idham Pawi secure pole with Aditya Pangestu and Koko Masaharu securing front row slots.
Khairul who had secured the overall title in the previous round claimed his fifth pole for the season after Sepang, Indonesia, Suzuka and Thailand with 2’31.444s in his 13th lap around the floodlit desert circuit.
Indonesia’s Aditya came in second with 2’32.769s followed by Japan’s Koko Masaharu with 2’33.120s.
“Despite the cold and windy conditions here, we managed to top the practice and secure pole position. It goes without saying, I am quite pleased with our progress so far and although I’ve already won the title, I intend to end the year on a high by winning the final two races,” said Khairul.
Speaking about his expectations for the race, “For sure it will not be easy because my rivals are very quick. On top of that anything can happen during a race so I have to push very hard if I want to win.”
Asia Dream Cup
1.Khairul Idham Pawi (MAS) 2’31.444s 2.Aditya Pangestu (INA) 2’32.769s 3.Koko Masaharu (JPN) 2’33.120s 4.Harith Farhan Baharin (MAS) 2’33.256s 5.Teppei Nagoe (JPN) 2’33.314s