THAILAND HOSTS AN EXCITING SUZUKI ASIAN CHALLENGE
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 4:07 pm
#THAILAND HOSTS AN EXCITING #SUZUKI #ASIAN CHALLENGE
Team Suzuki Press Office – September 2.
Suzuki’s new single-platform Suzuki Asian Challenge series continues to go from strength-to-strength and the fourth round at Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand proved another exciting event that produced ultra-competitive racing throughout the weekend.
A total of 17 riders from nine countries took part on the identically-prepared Suzuki FU150s (called ‘Satria’ in Indonesia, Belang and Malaysia and ‘Raider’ in Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines). In order to maintain fairness, the riders get to choose their machine at the very beginning of every race week. The order of the selection is decided by the result from race two at the previous round, with the rider that finished last choosing first.
Indonesian Adhi Chandra (#99) took pole position with a lap time of 2'18.967 with local favourite Patis Chooprathet (#98) and Indonesian series leader Andreas Gunawan (#43) third.
The opening race on Saturday provided exciting and close racing from the start with the lead changing a virtually every corner and a total of 12 riders in the hunt until the final corner when Gunawan took victory ahead of Japan’s #83 rider Takeru Murase – his third win of the season – and Chooprathet third.
Sunday’s second race proved another exciting battle from start-to-flag, although there were a few fallers, including Gunawan and Chooprathet. Victory went to Murase, who moved into second position in the series. Kai Saito (#71) took his first podium with second place ahead of Chandra.
SUZUKI ASIAN CHALLENGE will skip the fifth round of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship at Qatar, and will come back to Thailand again for the final round of the 2015 season on December 6th.
Andreas Gunawan - #43:
“I started from the third grid position, so I just concentrated on getting up front. After Suzuka I trained three times a week at the swimming pool and practiced a lot on the FU150, so came well prepared for this round in Thailand. I believe that I need to train hard in order to win.”
Takeru Murase - #83:
“I am happy that I was able to win again. I was able to run good lap-times from day one so I was able to simulate where I should position myself during the race to win it. The passing points are at the final ‘S’ curve and final corner, but I was passed at the final corner in race one. I made sure I could run the line I wanted and was able to pass Kai (Saito) to win the race. We have a three month interval to the final round so I plan to prepare well so that I can win both races at the final round.”
Yukio Kagayama - General Manager
“Once again we saw some exciting racing and I believe that this is proof that the riders have skilled-up. I want to thank our sponsors and our supporters for making this happen. We were able to witness clean racing without any major incidents. The top group bundled up and I was excited just watching the race.
“In race two the riders showed progress, battling fiercely but making sure they raced fairly. This proves that they have improved and I am happy to see that. There were a couple of crashes, but this was due to the riders racing near the limit and I believe that they will learn from this.
“We will come back to Thailand for the final round again and I thank the sponsors and the supporters that we are able to finish the season. I hope that all 17 riders will show us an even better race at the final round.”
Hideyuki Ogata - Rider Coach:
Today we saw a race where we could not forecast who was going to win until the finish. The riders that were not able to race up front in the first half of the season took the lead on several occasions and maybe this was down to confidence. The usual top finishers were on the top again, but the race proved that everyone has a chance of winning.
“We saw a couple of crashes in race two, but the close battle in the top group made this race a great one. The riders who fell should analyse the reason why they crashed and not make the same mistake again. The final round will take place again here and this will be the first time this year for the riders to race on the same track and I am looking forward to see the riders take advantage of the experience they have had this week.”
Team Suzuki Press Office – September 2.
Suzuki’s new single-platform Suzuki Asian Challenge series continues to go from strength-to-strength and the fourth round at Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand proved another exciting event that produced ultra-competitive racing throughout the weekend.
A total of 17 riders from nine countries took part on the identically-prepared Suzuki FU150s (called ‘Satria’ in Indonesia, Belang and Malaysia and ‘Raider’ in Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines). In order to maintain fairness, the riders get to choose their machine at the very beginning of every race week. The order of the selection is decided by the result from race two at the previous round, with the rider that finished last choosing first.
Indonesian Adhi Chandra (#99) took pole position with a lap time of 2'18.967 with local favourite Patis Chooprathet (#98) and Indonesian series leader Andreas Gunawan (#43) third.
The opening race on Saturday provided exciting and close racing from the start with the lead changing a virtually every corner and a total of 12 riders in the hunt until the final corner when Gunawan took victory ahead of Japan’s #83 rider Takeru Murase – his third win of the season – and Chooprathet third.
Sunday’s second race proved another exciting battle from start-to-flag, although there were a few fallers, including Gunawan and Chooprathet. Victory went to Murase, who moved into second position in the series. Kai Saito (#71) took his first podium with second place ahead of Chandra.
SUZUKI ASIAN CHALLENGE will skip the fifth round of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship at Qatar, and will come back to Thailand again for the final round of the 2015 season on December 6th.
Andreas Gunawan - #43:
“I started from the third grid position, so I just concentrated on getting up front. After Suzuka I trained three times a week at the swimming pool and practiced a lot on the FU150, so came well prepared for this round in Thailand. I believe that I need to train hard in order to win.”
Takeru Murase - #83:
“I am happy that I was able to win again. I was able to run good lap-times from day one so I was able to simulate where I should position myself during the race to win it. The passing points are at the final ‘S’ curve and final corner, but I was passed at the final corner in race one. I made sure I could run the line I wanted and was able to pass Kai (Saito) to win the race. We have a three month interval to the final round so I plan to prepare well so that I can win both races at the final round.”
Yukio Kagayama - General Manager
“Once again we saw some exciting racing and I believe that this is proof that the riders have skilled-up. I want to thank our sponsors and our supporters for making this happen. We were able to witness clean racing without any major incidents. The top group bundled up and I was excited just watching the race.
“In race two the riders showed progress, battling fiercely but making sure they raced fairly. This proves that they have improved and I am happy to see that. There were a couple of crashes, but this was due to the riders racing near the limit and I believe that they will learn from this.
“We will come back to Thailand for the final round again and I thank the sponsors and the supporters that we are able to finish the season. I hope that all 17 riders will show us an even better race at the final round.”
Hideyuki Ogata - Rider Coach:
Today we saw a race where we could not forecast who was going to win until the finish. The riders that were not able to race up front in the first half of the season took the lead on several occasions and maybe this was down to confidence. The usual top finishers were on the top again, but the race proved that everyone has a chance of winning.
“We saw a couple of crashes in race two, but the close battle in the top group made this race a great one. The riders who fell should analyse the reason why they crashed and not make the same mistake again. The final round will take place again here and this will be the first time this year for the riders to race on the same track and I am looking forward to see the riders take advantage of the experience they have had this week.”