A glance at Race 1 that was held yesterday, the fast and furious battle between riders saw the exchange of the lead position among a number of riders. Among them, the most striking ones were Nazirul who maintained his composure among the top three riders before slipstreaming towards victory, Wahyu Aji who showcased great riding techniques and Gupita Kresna who fought a good fight to take the third spot.

Today’s race began with Wahyu taking lead followed by Murobbil at P2. The duo was off to a good start before Murobbil overtook Wahyu. But Wahyu was quick and managed his position well and by end of lap 2, Wahyu was back at P1. By the end of lap 3, Wawan made it to P1 and Nazirul who was at the back troop trailed closed at P2 while Shafiq Rasol made it into P3. The long trail of riders diligently stayed put in their racing lines, occasionally finding the right opportunity to strike.

By mid-race, Nazirul cleverly bolted ahead of Peerapong with Wahyu close behind. Interestingly, the rivalry was strong among Wahyu, Nazirul, Murobbil and Peerapong at Sugo circuit and were seen taking turns at the top three positions. With another 2 more laps to go, it was all about managing their momentum and their positions among the front troop. At the final lap, riders buckled up for one last

push. Racing uphill, John Emerson, Nazirul and Gupita were seen taking a dash towards the finish line. John Emerson however touched the finish line first at 18’01:380s.

Commenting on the race, John said, “I am extremely happy with my achievement today. It is a dream come true for the team and I therefore, I am truly glad to have made them happy. UB150 has always been a challenging feat and everyone has an opportunity to win. The race was not easy at all but my experiences have been key to this success today. To all my Pilipino fans, supporters of 4S1M, thank you all so much. I could not have made it without you.”

At second spot was Md Nazirul Izzat Bahauddin of UMA Racing YAMAHA Maju Motor Asia logging in at 18’01:458s.

Team Gupita Kresna Wardhana of 4S1M EVO YAMAHA Racing Team made it third at 18’01:484s.

Recapping Race 1 that was held yesterday, intensity arose between Indonesian and Thai rider, Rheza and Muklada in the first few laps. Muklada went on a chase in an attempt to knock Rheza down however Rheza took a bold stance as he fought off the brewing pressure behind him. In the last few laps, Rheza accelerated and left Muklada in a distance before claiming victory. His teammate, Veda who fought his own battle with rivals in the back troop, concluded at third spot on the podium.

In today’s race, Faerozi utilised his pole position well when he took lead at the first turn while Muklada rushed for P2. Before the lap ended, Muklada confidently took lead but seconds into lap 2, Rheza struck her and embraced the lead role. At the first turn of lap 3, Faerozi ferociously attacked Muklada before moving into P2. Meanwhile at P3 was Kawasaki rider, Irfan before Veda took over. Teammate, Herjun followed close behind at P6. Before lap 4 ended, Muklada found her way back into P2 and at P3, Irfan superseded Veda.

In an interesting twist, Irfan made it into P2 but shortly after that, Veda overtook and teammate Herjun buckled up into P3. By then, Muklada was at P6 and the ASTRA boys lined up for the top three positions. Ifran went on to chase Herjun who was close by. With another 5 laps to go, leader of the troop was beginning to feel the pressure of teammate Veda however, Rheza went on steadily ahead. Irfan on the other hand found an opportunity to strike and took P3 but Herjun was relentless and took him down once again.

With 2 more laps to go, Muklada decided to make moves and overtook Aiki into P4 however luck was not on her side when she took a fall before the final lap. Indonesian trio were once again at the top three positions and at the last lap, Herjun pushed past Veda and inched closer towards Rheza. In an unfortunate twist of fate, the battle between trio of ASTRA HONDA for the best position resulted in Veda rubbing against Rheza, causing the leader and Irfan to crash. Herjun in that moment grabbed the opportunity to dash ahead, clocking in at 20’00:053s.

Commenting on the race, Herjun said, “I finished 4th in Race 1 but as soon as that was over, we analysed the outcome closely and made some fine-tuning on the settings. During the warm up earlier, we had a positive result. For this race, my machine was in a perfect condition but there are three more rounds to go after this so there is a lot of work that needs to be done. I hope to win the championship so let’s see how that goes!”

Aiki Iyoshi of Motul Sniper Manual Tech Racing Team who was trailing behind immediately took the opportunity for the second spot at 20’03:273s.

Teammate, Veda who quickly avoided the fall took the third spot on the podium at 20’01:735s.

Reflecting on Race 1 that was held yesterday, we saw the mastery of Japanese rider Hiroki Ono who flaunted his experience o the circuit when he went on at the lead position from flag off to chequered flag. Riders of neighbouring countries, Decky and Ramdan engaged in an exchange of positions before Decky upped his performance further to take the second spot while Ramdan concluded at third.

In Race 2, Decky was off to a great start when he took lead as soon as the race flagged off. Ramdan strode at P2 while Hiroki took a more relaxed approach at P3. Uphill after turn 14, Hiroki dashed ahead of Ramdan but seconds into lap 2, Ramdan made it back into P2. A comfortable gap was drawn between the trio ahead and the troop trailing behind led by Vorapong before Fugo broke into P4. By the fourth lap, Ramdan made it past Decky for a moment before the latter resumed his lead role. Meanwhile, Muzakkir who was trailing behind took a leap into P5.

Hiroki who was playing it safe at P3 began making his moves mid-race and barged ahead into P1 with Decky and Ramdan close behind. Hiroki confidently picked up speed and quickly drew gap with the duo behind. With 4 more laps to go, Hiroki has worked on a 0.891s gap. By the 8th lap, Ramdan moved ahead of Decky before Hiroki succumbed to a mechanical issue and was out of the equation. That left Ramdan and Decky at the top two positions.

Two more laps to go, Decky worked on his rhythm and glided ahead of Ramdan. At P3, Fugo battled with Piyawat and Muzakkir. Fugo however retained his positions at P3 but Vorapong broke into P4 and

began his attack on Fugo but the Japanese rider managed his position firmly. Ahead of them, Ramdan boldly chased Decky down before dashing uphill towards victory at 16’38:545s.

Commenting on the race, Ramdan said, “I was prepared to put up a fight with Ono as we have worked on our machine’s suspension. I was quite confident to embrace the battle in Race 2. But sadly, he faced some mechanical issue with the machine. Anyway, I am very happy with the outcome of the race today. It is never an easy feat, furthermore with my body weight in comparison to other riders but again, I am really grateful for this win.”

Decky Tiarno Aldy of Indonesia took the second spot at 16’38:938s. Fugo Tanaka of Japan made it third at 16’44:373s.