Monday September 10, 2012

Defending champion Fujiwara leaves them trailing again

PETALING JAYA: Manual Tech BEET Kawasaki Racing rider Katsuaki Fujiwara rounded off a memorable weekend with a stunning ride to take his second victory in the SuperSports 600cc category in the fourth round of the Petronas Asia Road Racing Championships (ARRC) at the Autopolis International Race Course, in Japan yesterday.

The defending champion proved his win in Race 1 on Saturday was no fluke, as he finished in 21:09.583.

Yuki Ito (Petronas Syntium Moto Yamaha) was second in 21:10.986 while Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Musashi Boon Siew Honda) rounded off the podium in 21:17.405.

“Race 2 was very tough because I had some chatter issues with my bike since qualifying. We managed to race through it yesterday (Saturday) but today it was worse, making it very hard to ride and maintain maximum speed especially during downhill passes,” said Fujiwara.

Azlan, on the other hand, was contented to finish both races on the podium. He finished Race 1 in second place.

“Although I was able to lead on the first lap, Fujiwara and Ito proved to be faster.

“At first I could follow them closely but then the gap became bigger and I found myself battling with (Mohd) Zamri and (Ryuichi) Kiyonari in the second group.

“It’s only natural to feel a bit disappointed not being able to win here as it is one of my favourite track but still I’m really glad to finish both races on the podium and more importantly take valuable points,” said Azlan.

Meanwhile, in the Underbone 115cc championship, leader Hadi Wijaya of Indonesia also completed a double.

The Yamaha Yamalube KYT R9 Tunggal Jaya rider who won Race 1, kept a low profile for most part of the race before going in for the kill in the final lap to earn his sixth victory of the season in 15:30.486.

Malaysian Mohd Afif Amran (CKJ Yamaha Racing) who had been trailing Hadi throughout the race settled for second with 15:30.545, just 0.059 seconds off the winner’s time, while compatriot, Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa (Pachie Yuzy Honda Racing) came in third in 15:30.691.

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