Team KAGAYAMA SUZUKI Asia scored a positive result at the weekend’s second round of the Asia Road Race Championship at Sentul International Circuit in Indonesia as local rider Rafid Topan Sucipto put his GSX-R600 into fifth position in the opening race.
Round two of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) at the 4.12km/ 12-Turn circuit in Bogor, saw Topan 11th in qualifying with a lap-time of 1'30.824 and team-mate Nori Haga 16th on 1'31.456.
Race one started with a red flag on the third lap and the restarted race became a short six-lap sprint. Both Topan and Haga made great starts, positioning themselves in fifth and sixth respectively; Topan finishing fifth and Haga ninth.
With cooler temperatures for race two, Haga made a great start and positioned himself in the top-group with Topan - who unfortunately slipped-off on lap six - and had to retire from the race. Haga kept his pace on the GSX-R600 and finished seventh in the race.
Round three of ARRC is scheduled for July 3-5th at Suzuka Circuit in Japan.
Yukio Kagayama - General Manager:
"Team KAGAYAMA SUZUKI Asia has been formed this year to compete in the ARRC and I am happy that both Topan and Nori made single-digit finishes. Fifth and seventh are the team's best results. Both riders’ abilities are capable of finishing with better results and I feel responsible for not being able to give them the SUZUKI GSX-R600 that matches their capabilities. We will try our best to make a better machine at Suzuka and hope that we can show the Japanese fans a better race" Rafid Topan Sucipto - #25:
"In the first race, I was able to run in fourth, but it was difficult to catch-up to the front on the straights and it became a tough race for me. I made a mistake in race two, where I ran off the racing line in a very bumpy corner and crashed. I wanted to finish on the podium for my local fans, and I pushed too hard. I really wanted to win in my home country and I regret that I couldn’t. The next race is in Japan, which will be a home race for the team, and I wish to be on the podium for our General Manager, Yukio Kagayama."
Noriyuki Haga - #41:
"The machine was better at the start of Race 1, but I changed the setting during the red-flag and that lost my good feeling and I had to drop-back during the race. We modified the setting for Race 2 and it was the best setting for this week. Although I finished in the results – that I was not satisfied with - we managed to get some good points. We were able to finish both races, and we gathered important data. I believe that this will enable us to find where we are lacking, and enable us to fix the issues we have. We will be at Suzuka next, which will be our home race, so we will try our best to do much better there."
