SEPANG: Malaysian rider Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah roared back into title contention with a podium finish in Race 2 of the Asia Road Racing Championships (ARRC) 2024 at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) today.
The 30-year-old JDT Racing Team rider, who failed to get on the podium in Race 1 of the fifth round yesterday, blazed his way into third place in Race 2 of the Asia Superbike 1000cc category in 25 minutes and 30.275 seconds to take the championship battle down to the wire when the sixth and final round revs off at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand from Dec 6-8.
Japan’s Yuki Kunii of SDG Team HARC-PRO Honda Ph dominated the fifth round after completing the 12-lap race in 25:26.318s, followed by Thailand’s Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (25:29.138s) of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Astemo. Another Malaysian rider, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (25:36.660s) of TKKR BMW Racing Team, finished fourth.
Yesterday, Hafizh Syahrin had to be contented with a fifth placing in Race 1 due to some issues with his machine as Yuki emerged as the winner.
Yuki now tops the championship standings with 142 points, followed by Indonesian Andi Farid Izdihar of Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Astemo (140 points) and Hafizh Syahrin (137 points).
“Thanks to the team for working hard from day one to keep on improving and looking for the best set-up. We have issues with the tyres, (there’s) no grip and I nearly fell several times yesterday. We stayed at the track until midnight to sort out the problem and find a solution.
“We know Honda will be very strong in Buriram after last month’s test and we don’t have previous race data compared to other teams, but I had my tests there earlier this year. We might go there earlier to get used to the track,” said Hafizh Syahrin, whose wife is set to deliver their second child this week.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Azroy Hakeem Anuar emerged victorious in the SuperSport 600cc category in 22:01.801s, with Indonesian riders from Astra Honda Racing Team, Mohamad Adenanta Putra (22:01.890s) and Veda Ega Pratama (22:02.350s) finishing second and third respectively.
Azroy Hakeem, of Idemitsu Boon Siew Honda Racing Team, dedicated the win to all Malaysians in conjunction with the Malaysia Day celebrations tomorrow.
“I was disappointed yesterday for not getting on the podium (after finishing fourth). I desperately wanted to get on the podium today.
“It will be quite difficult (for me) to vie for the overall (individual) title in Thailand because of the huge gap in total points collected. The main objective will be to help the team emerge as the overall champions,” he said.
The Idemitsu Boon Siew Honda Racing Team are leading the championship with 235 points, seven ahead of Yamaha Tekhne Racing Team Asia (228 points).
