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2016.6.6
Muhammad Sapril takes lead in the Championship by winning Race 2 at Suzuka
Rain from the night before made the warm up session on the final day at Suzuka the first wet session of the season. Although the rain stopped before Race 2 started, it still left wet patches on the track, but that did not stop the Suzuki Asian Challenge (SAC) riders from making it one of the most exciting race in SAC history.
Pole sitter #43 April King Mascardo (Philippines) set the pace at the beginning with his three Indonesian rivals, #20 Jefri Tosema, #87 Muhammad Sapril, and #30 Rizal Feriyadi made charge to make the leading group. The four pulled away from the rest of the field at one point, but by the middle of the race, Race 1 Winner and Mascardo’s teammate #22 Eane Jaye Solacito Sobretodo (Philippines) caught up with the group making it a five way battle).
The second group, that consisted of #5 Jagan Kumar (India), #11 Maxi Hattori (Japan), #12 Rozaliman Zakaria (Malaysia), #14 Arsyad Rusydi (Singapore) and #27 Shinnosuke Sato (Japan) also caught up with the leading group with 3 laps left in the race, making it a 9-way battle for the win. In lap 3, Mascardo crashed into the safety barrier at the final chicane making it a 8 way battle.
Two wide, three wide, and sometimes even four wide close battle took place from there to the finish line, with all eight riders jumping into the final chicane, and looked as if an incident will occur with so many riders trying to take the win. However, the riders made clean turns at the final chicane, without any incidents.Sapril pulled out on top and won Race 2, which was his 3rd win of the season. Feriyadi came in 2nd, and local rider Sato came in 3rd for his first podium of the season.
Round 4 of the Suzuki Asian Challenge, in conjuntion with the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship is scheduled to take place at Sentul International Circuit in Bogor, Indonesia on August 5-7, 2016.
#87 Muhammad Sapril | Race 2 Winner
I discussed with my teammates Jefri and Rizal to try to lead the race by the three of us. I made a good start, and was setting up my race so that I can take the lead at the very end. I was able to pull out from the group at the final chicane and win the race. I will try to keep my position in the standings, and win the Championship for Indonesia two years in a row.
Yukio Kagayama | General Manager
We displayed the MotoGP™ Suzuki GSX-RR and Team KAGAYAMA’s GSX-R1000 Suzuka 8 Hours model in the pit for the SAC riders to see it. It is their dream to one day become a rider that would be able to race on it, so I thought that it would be a good opportunity for them to see the actual machine. The riders all were mesmerized by it, and I was happy to see them like that.Race 2 was like that of Race 1. The riders showed us an very exciting race. The final chicane of the final lap, where 8 riders jumped into the corner at once was very exciting, and I witnessed the one of the best race in SAC history.
The standings are changing every race, and the season will now be going into the second half. The next race is at Indonesia, and I am sure the local riders will come with full motivation, so I am looking forward to it.
Shunji Yatsushiro | Rider Coach
It was a dramatic race once again for us to watch. It must have been a difficult one with so many riders going into the final chicane at once, but it was amazing to see that none of the crashed in that situation. I am sorry that Mascardo crashed out earlier, burt overall it was a very good race. I hope to see them race fairly by respecting the other riders again in Indonesia.
