ZAMRI TAKES POLE WITH NEW LAP RECORD
Mohd Zamri Baba will start Round 2 of the 2014 PETRONAS FIM Asia Road Racing Championship currently underway at the Sentul International Circuit in Indonesia from the coveted pole position. Spurred by his younger team mate Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi’s achievement from the Friday free practice sessions, Zamri upped his game during the qualifying practice and brought the bar even lower when he set a new lap record of 1’30.128s.
Zamri will take lead the front row comprising of MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda team mate Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi who was second fastest with 1’30.228s followed by Indonesian rider Dimas Ekky Pratama who was third fastest with 1’30.596s. Zamri and Zaqhwan’s time may only be 0.100 seconds apart but Zamri’s time was set using the medium compound during the closing minutes of the qualifying session while Zaqhwan’s time was clocked with the soft compound.
“We had a positive run today despite running into a couple of snags in FP3 this morning,” said Zamri. “What was more important was that we were able to confirm that we could also put in some quick laps using the medium compound,” he added. Given the rough surface of the Sentul track, the medium tyre seems to be the compound of choice for the majority of the riders.
Meanwhile BEET Kawasaki Racing’s Katsuaki Fujiwara will start the race from second row having came in fourth fastest in the qualifying. The Japanese rider will line up along side Makoto Tamada and Yudhistira.
GUPITA CAPITALIZES ON HOMEGROUND ADVANTAGE
In the Underbone 130cc, Gupita Kresna capitalized on his homeground advantage to grab pole position in the qualifying ahead of Malaysians, Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa and Ahmad Fazli Sham.
Having topped Saturday’s practice, Gupita maintained his perfect form to master the third and final practice session this morning with 1’53.868s, before he secured pole with a new lap record of 1’53.367s.
Amirul of T.Pro Yuzy Honda and Fazli Sham of PETRONAS Hong Leong Yamaha locked in the front row with 1’53.494s and 1’54.179s.
“We came prepared for our home race- the bike was perfect and I’m 100 percent fit,” said Gupita. “We already have a strategy in mind and with pole in hand I think we can pull away from the pack early. At the same time I don’t want to put my hopes up too high because Sentul has always been unpredictable. I just hope I can finish on the podium and make my supporters proud.”
Wildcard rider Hendriansyah who posted his quickest lap at 1’54.530s will lead the front row followed by Japan’s Kazuki Masaki and Norizman Ismail. Both riders timed 1’55.170s and 1’55.299s respectively.
UNDER PRESSURE, KHAIRUL CRASHES IN QUALIFYING
Under pressure to beat Hiroki Ono’s lap record at the Sentul International Circuit, Khairul Idham Pawi crashed out during the qualifying session for the Asia Dream Cup category. However, the Malaysian rider still managed to post the quickest lap of the class with 1’52.573s and will start the second leg of the 2014 season at the Sentul International Circuit from pole position.
Khairul is joined by local rider Aditya Pangestu Hanafi of Indonesia who clocked in second fastest with 1’52.785s and Teppei Nagoe from Japan who posted 1’53.055s.
“I was able to improve on my own laptimes but I kept pushing myself to chase after the target that had been set by my coach Shinya Nakano. Luckily, the crash did not result in any serious damage and I am confident that I will continue to perform well on Race Day,” said Khairul.
On a separate note, the classes’s sole Australian rider, Lachlan Kavney has been forced to pull out of Round 2 due to a broken collarbone sustained during a crash on Friday.