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2016.8.8
Patis and Haga finishes Sentul at their season best
Round 4 of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship took place at Sentul International Circuit in Bogor, Indonesia. The circuit, located approximately 60km south of Jakarta, is the only circuit in Indonesia where a FIM-sanctioned Supersports 600 category can race in.
Not only the heat and the humidity, makes this track a challenging one for the rider. They layout seems easy at first glance, but the tight corners and the bumpy surface makes it a very challenging one for the riders.
Team KAGAYAMA SUZUKI Asia was setup in 2015, as a development team for the single-platform, SUZUKI ASIAN CHALLENGE (SAC). Riders chosen from the series will be able to step up to the Supersports 600 team, in order to train the rider to one day become a MotoGP™ rider. Patis Chooprathet, who ranked 2nd in the 2015 SAC stepped up to Kagayama’s 600 squad from this year.
Patis, who started to show speed after 3 rounds with the team, qualified for the first time in front of his teammate, Noriyuki Haga, started from the 12th grid, while Haga started from the 13th grid.
In Race 1, Patis makes a good start, and positions himself in 9th, while Haga right behind him. Patis gradually paces down, but finishes 12th in the race, while Haga finished 10th.
In Race 2, they both again a good start and positions themselves close to their grid positions. Haga overtakes his rivals one by one, and battles for 6th, while Patis keeps his pace, and battles for 10th. Haga finished 8th and Patis 11th at the finish line, making it the best result of the season for the team.
The next round of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship is scheduled to be held September 30-October 2, 2016 at Buddh International Circuit in New Delhi, India.
Patis Chooprathet | #98
I felt pretty good with my GSX-R600 and the dunlop tires this weekend. I tried to follow Haga in the race, and tried to finish in the top 10, but I wasn’t able to catch up. But I still finished in my best result this season, and I am happy about that. I have never been to India, so I don’t know what awaits there, but I will try my best to achieve a better result than this week.Noriyuki Haga | #41
I tried several setups so that I can run fast on the gap and on the bumpy surface, and I was able to find one in warm-up session on Sunday. It wasn’t enough to race with the leaders, but I am happy I had a single-digit finish. Naturally, I would have wanted to finish higher, but I will do that at the next round.Yukio Kagayama | Team Manager
Both Patis and Nori finished in the best result for the team, and I thank them for that. We were able to see Patis in and out of the top 10, so that’s a big improvement for him. It took him 3 rounds after graduating from a 150cc Suzuki Asian Challenge, but I think he’s now in the second learning curve. The next round in India would be a new track for everyone, so we will be preparing well to compete higher there.
