THAILAND:
The battle for title started from the morning qualifier only to be a sizzling affair by the afternoon’s Asia Production 250cc (AP 250) race 1 of the finale 7 th round of FIM Asia Road Racing Championship 2019 (ARRC) at buriram, Thailand.
For IDEMITSU Honda Racing India team rider duo of Rajiv Sethu and Senthil Kumar, today turned out to be mixed day. While the morning qualifier pushed Rajiv out of the top 15 front bunch, he made a strong recovery in afternoon’s race 1, finishing 14 th and adding 2 more points to the solo Indian team’s kitty. Meanwhile, an aggressive cornering in last turn resulted in Senthil’s crashing out of the race in lap 1 itself.
The morning qualifier saw top 20 riders fight in a tight 2 seconds gap for the title battle. Riding with middle bunch in the first half of qualifier, Rajiv was initially stuck in the 1:55 seconds lap time. But strategizing fast, the 21-year-old made a quick pit stop to lose this bunch. Rejoining with the fast bunch, he breached into 1:54 seconds mark to finally qualify 16 th with best lap time of 1:54:737 – a mere 2.185 seconds off the Thai female lead rider Muklada who clocked 1:52:552.
Determined to win points for India in the afternoon AP250 race 1, Rajiv gained 2 positions to 14 th in lap 1 itself. But Malaysian rider Muhammad Faerozi crash in lap 1 turned out to be the turning point of the race. While the top riders pushed ahead, the next bunch of 7 riders including Rajiv hit the brakes and formed the next group. From here on, this bunch of 7 riders rode in under 1 second gap. Clocking his best lap time of 1:54:539, Rajiv maintained his 14 th spot till lap 3. Lap 4 saw him slip to 15 th only to recover back to 13 th and maintain this pace till lap 8. The 10 lap race saw Rajiv finally close 14 th with 2 positons overall gain, recording a total time of 19:16:421.
Despite the crash, today was a great day for rookie rider Senthil Kumar. The morning qualifier saw Senthil breach the 1:55 second mark (1:55:855) for first time ever at Chang circuit. A poor start in the afternoon race dragged Senthil to 27 th from his 22 nd position start. But challenging himself, the 19-year- old rode aggressively, gaining 9 positions (a first for him) to climb to 18 th spot. But the last corner of lap 1 proved to be his nemesis. While overtaking 2 more riders, Senthil had a low-side and crashed out of the race.
Sharing an overview on today’s race1 and morning qualifier, Prabhu Nagaraj, Vice President – Brand and Communications, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, “Morning qualifier showed our riders are now taking correct strategic calls. Rajiv’s decision to exit and re-enter the pit in morning qualifier shaved off 2 seconds from his time, pushing him from 22 nd to 16 th . In the race too, Rajiv fought hard and ended with 2 position gain, adding 2 more points to IDEMITSU Honda Racing India’s kitty. Senthil’s accomplished his target of entering the 1:55 seconds lap time club. Despite his crash, Senthil’s real experience today was his phenomenal recovery from 27 th to 19 th . Tomorrow will be a tougher day and aggression with calculated risks will be our mantra. Our target for tomorrow is top 10 for Rajiv and top 15 for Senthil remains.”
Honda’s third timer ARRC rider Rajiv Sethu: (14 th in race 1) said “Today’s morning qualifier wasn’t as expected. I wasn’t fully confident of the front end. So I entered race 1 with a different set-up. I made a good start and was fighting for 11 th position with the group. There was constant overtaking at every turn thereon. My strategy shifted to defending my position.
Even so, in turn 5 of last lap, I overtook 3 riders to move to 11 th position. But in turn 9 of last lap, an aggressive contact with Malaysian rider Shahrol pushed me back 4 positions to 15th. Riding hard here on, I overtook Thai rider Sawapol in the last corner and finished 14 th gaining 2 positions over my 16 th start. Tomorrow, my aim is to make a strong start, enter top 10 as soon as possible and maintain my pace thereon.”
19-year-old rookie rider Senthil Kumar: (DNF in race 1) said that “Yesterday, I had a target to enter the 1:55 seconds lap time. Today, I met my target in the morning qualifier and entered the race confident of a top 15 finish. While the poor start pushed me back, I overtook 7 riders which was a first ever for me. My crash was unfortunate but it’s also a big learning for me. Tomorrow, the fight will be equally challenging and my aim continues to be top 15 finish.”
Meanwhile, the battle at the front was a nail biter till the end. With a strong home-ground advantage, A.P Honda’s Thai rider Muklada Saarapuech was leading till the start of last 10 th lap. But, with top 7 fighting in less than 0.645 second gap, a cornering mistake at last turn dashed Muklada’s dream of a win today.
While the championship front-runner, Indonesian rider Andy Fadly quickly made a fast corner to be the first to stop the clock at 19:03:763. Hot on his heels was Astra Honda’s Indonesian rider Awhin Sanjaya who too overtook Muklada at last corner to photo-finish 2 nd . Parallely, Honda Group Companies team Honda Asia-Dream Racing with SHOWA pulled strong in the inaugural Asia Superbike 1000cc class at the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship 2019 too. The team has recruited top personnel from Honda subsidiaries across the Asia & Oceania region including a race technician from India. The afternoon race 1 saw Malaysian rider Zaqhwan Zaidi win yet again with 1:36:130 lap time in today’s race 1 of ASB 1000 class.
