Round 2 June 7, 2015  Asia Production 250

Twenty-four R25 riders race in front of a huge crowd of Yamaha fans
Indonesian rider Galang finishes Race 2 in the top five
Race 1 has been canceled due to multiple crash at the early stage

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

RACE DATA

Circuit

Indonesia/Sentul International Circuit

Condition

Dry

PP

Apiwat Wongthananon(1'45.691/Honda)

Race 2 FL

Takehiro Yamamoto(1'46.600/Kawasaki)

REPORT

The second round of the Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) took place at the Sentul International Circuit located some 45 km south from the city center of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. Indonesia is both the country where the Yamaha YZF-R25 is manufactured and the first market in the world it was launched in back in July 2014. Another thing that distinguishes Indonesia is the level of popularity for motorcycle racing across numerous categories, from the pinnacle class of MotoGP to local underbone model competitions. And now, with the added momentum of the YZF-R25 participating in the newly established Asia Production 250 class of the ARRC from this year, further growth in the popularity of motorsport in Indonesia is anticipated going forward. The effects of this growing popularity were already evident in the large number of fans that came to the circuit to cheer for their favorite motorcycle brands, riders and teams. Among them, more than 1,000 Yamaha fans filled the grandstands to show their enthusiastic support for the R25 and the Yamaha riders, and fully enjoyed the exciting racing of the new 250cc production model class.
In response to the establishment of the new Asia Production 250 class, Yamaha developed a version of the YZF-R25 to serve as a base for racing and began supplying it to teams. The aim of Yamaha’s participation in this class is to facilitate a smoother step-up structure for riders moving up from underbone models who previously had to jump up to the ARRC’s 600cc class, and to create an opportunity for young riders and teams to gain experience and grow as competitors. To succeed in these objectives, Yamaha is engaging in efforts to help strengthen the step-up structure and expand the base of competing riders and teams. These include providing additional support by feeding back information gained from on-site surveys, updating the base machine and providing technical assistance for team mechanics.
The results of these efforts were seen in the fact that, despite this round in Indonesia being only the second time for the new model to compete, many riders made wildcard entries on the R25 (24 of the 33 competing machines were R25s). Furthermore, as with the opening round of the series, many of the teams competed in direct tie-ups with Yamaha. Although no R25-mounted riders succeeded in getting a first podium finish, they did narrow the gap further with their formidable rival machines and were right on their tails to the end.

Race1
Race 1 of the Asia Production 250 class began with a big upset. The rivals on the front rows of the grid quickly took off at the start, chased by R25 riders Rusman Fadhil (#27), Muhamad Hasyim Zaki Adil (#32), Ayumu Tanaka (#82) and Galang Hendra Pratama (#99). At the season opener, the rivals quickly got away from the Yamaha riders at the start, but this time the R25s went through the early laps with the leaders clearly in sight. But during this early stage of the race, one machine after another was slipping on the track and going down, beginning with the machine in 2nd place and including four of the R25s running in positions from 5th downward. This series of falls brought out the red flag to stop the race and send all the competitors back to the pits. One of the causes of the slips turned out to be oil on the track that had been left by a pre-race crash, and because of the large amount of time required to clean up all of the oil spread around the track, the first race was subsequently canceled.
Of the four R25 riders who had taken falls, three suffered injuries light enough for them to enter the second race, but the injuries to Fadhil (#27) were more serious and he was taken to the hospital for treatment. The machines had also suffered crash damage and the respective teams hurried to repair them in preparation for Race 2.
In the SuperSports 600cc class race that followed the Asia Production 250 class, two machines vying for the lead on the sixth lap of Race 1 ended with them crashing into each other. The bikes ended up still on the track and the red flag came out again to stop the race. When the race was restarted, Yamaha rider Yuki Ito (#78) settled into 3rd position and went on to finish the race that way for his first podium of the season. In the Underbone 130cc race that followed, there was a crash right after the start and the red flag was brought out for the third time. When the race was restarted, local Indonesian Yamaha rider Ferlando Herdian (#61) also took a 3rd place podium finish.

Race2
After Race 1 was canceled, some of the Yamaha pit crews were frantically making preparations for Race 2. This was due to the repairs that had to be made to the multiple machines that had gone down from sliding on the oil on the track as well as other machines that had suffered independent crashes. It was a battle against the clock, but the mechanics on each team were able to make effective repairs in the limited time available. Among the riders, it was learned that Rusman Fadhil (#27) had suffered a broken bone that would keep him out of Race 2, but all the other Yamaha-supported riders were able to return to the starting grid by race time.
The Yamaha fans had grown incredibly excited at this point and many of them poured out of the stands to get closer to the trackside action. There were big Yamaha flags being waved to cheer on mainly the local Indonesian riders and the air filled with voices of fans shouting the names of their favorite riders. It was a fantastic scene of the riders and fans coming together and the air was filled with the excitement of competition.
Race 2 began like Race 1 had with good starts by Yamaha’s rivals at the front of the starting grid. Again, it was Indonesian Yamaha rider Galang Hendra Pratama (#99) and Ayumu Tanaka (#82) who stuck with the lead group as the race unfolded. The two raced aggressively down the straights as well as when going in and out of the corners. At times, Galang broke into the top three while Tanaka also pressed hard in the back-and-forth battle for positions. But eventually, Tanaka crashed out of the race. Then in the middle stages of the race, Galang’s pace gradually slowed and he became involved in the battle for 4th place with a rival machine. Behind him, other R25 riders were also making good progress. Peerapong Boonlert (#45) and Imanuel Putra Pratna (#34), who had come through the first lap in 12th and 13th places respectively, had set a fast pace and worked their way through the field to catch up with Kasma Daniel Bin Kasmayudin (#127), joining him in an intense five-way battle with rival machines #108 and #12 for 6th place.
In the end, the battles for 4th and 6th places went to the rivals. Although taking 5th and 7th places wasn’t a big improvement over the performances of the Yamaha riders in the opening round, significant progress had been made in the quality of their racing. This time, they had been able to compete in the lead group and they had also narrowed the gap to the rival machines in terms of lap times. The race was solid proof of the progress made by the riders, the performance of the machine and the overall strength of the teams.
In Race 2 of the SuperSports 600cc class, Yuki Ito (#78), who had performed so well in Race 1, took a fall this time that took him out of the race and the top finish by a Yamaha rider was 8th place. In the second race of the Underbone 130cc class, Md Affendi Rosli (#36) finished in 2nd. Ferlando (#61), who had finished 3rd in Race 1, came 3rd again in this race. In addition to his performance at the season opener, his two podiums have put him in a strong position for the season.

The third round of the series will take place in Japan about one month from now from July 3 to 5 at Suzuka Circuit, a racetrack that has hosted many top-level international races in the past.

RIDER RANKING

COMMENT

• Yamaha Factory Racing Indonesia
  #99 Galang Hendra Pratama (-/5th)
  “I fell while riding in Race 1 before it was canceled and hurt my leg, so I wasn’t in the best condition for Race 2. But, I could hear the fans cheering for me close by and I promised myself that I would do my best on behalf of all of the R25 riders here in Indonesia and as one of Yamaha’s top riders. In the early stages of the race I stayed in the lead group and I had a chance to fight for the win, but in the middle stages the pain in my leg got worse and I couldn’t keep up with them. I also wasn’t able to catch the rider in 4th place in front of me. I’m disappointed but I have to accept that this is where I am at the moment. Still, I feel that I’m improving. In the next race at Suzuka, I definitely want to get a podium finish.”
• #34 Imanuel Putra Pratna (-/8th)
  “This being my home race, I had my family and friends here cheering for me along with so many Indonesian fans. I also had the best possible support from the team, so I was able to compete in the best of conditions. The bike was also great and I was mentally ready to perform well. That’s why I feel very disappointed with my performance today. The reason for this result has to be that I’m just not riding the bike well enough. Once again, I was racing back in the third group and I should’ve been able to press forward more, but I couldn’t get the oil [slip accidents] out of my mind and concentrate enough to push harder. The next round will be at Suzuka, a track I know well from winning last year’s Suzuka 4 Hours Endurance Race. I’ll turn today’s frustration around and go for a podium finish there.”
• Team Manager Yusuke Koizumi
  “We were aiming for a podium finish this time but we ended up finishing in 5th and 8th place. But, I’m feeling positive about the results. We are still behind our rivals but our two riders have shown steady progress and have narrowed the gap compared to the opener at Sepang. This has also been aided by progress with the machine. The potential of the R25 has definitely been improved. This was also our home race so we had lots of people cheering for us, and everyone on the team competed with pride as representatives of Yamaha. The next round will be at Suzuka and our injured top rider will be back in action. And the other two young riders will surely be stronger for the next race. We will be shooting first for a podium finish and then for a victory.”
• Yamaha Thailand Racing Team
  #45 Peerapong Boonlert (-/7th)
  “I wasn’t able to get a good time in the qualifying, so I had to start further down the grid, but the bike performed very well in the races and helped me move up to finish 7th. In the race there was a group of us battling for 6th place and I ended up getting passed and finishing 7th, but I feel that I gave it the best I’m capable of at this point. But, considering that our goal was to finish in the top five, I can’t feel satisfied yet. The next round will be at a track that’s new to me, but I intend to learn as much as I can from my senior Thai riders Decha [Kraisart] and Chalermpol [Polamai], and keep training and getting experience so I can go into the race in the best condition possible.”
• #14 Peerapong Loiboonpeng (-/DNF)
  “In the first race I was behind the lead group that crashed out, which put me up near the lead automatically, so the race being canceled was rather disappointing. In Race 2, I had machine trouble in the early stages of the race and I made the decision to withdraw from the race, so it turns out that I was able to do very little racing this time. For the next round at Suzuka, the only thing I can do is to continue the same schedule of training and gaining experience.”
• Team Manager Korathat Kanjanda
  “Loiboonpeng had to drop out of the race, but Boonlert managed to finish in the top ten again. I believe he’s able to run steadily near the front because of the progress he’s making with his skill level. His cornering skills are steadily improving and he appears to be getting used to the machine. The next thing we need to work on is making progress with machine set-up. At Suzuka, we’ve planned to get support for our riders from their senior Thai riders Decha [Kraisart] and Chalermpol [Polamai] and they also have a lot of relevant data as a team that we hope to take advantage of. With this we will be going for a place in the top five.”
• Yamaha Finson Racing
  #127 Kasma Daniel Bin Kasmayudin (-/10th)
  “Having finished the second round now, I’m getting more used to the machine. But as you can see from my results, I’m still far from mastering it completely and there are still both physical and mental issues I have to work on. In other words, I’m not up to par in any of these areas. On the other hand, that also means I have a lot of room for progress. In the next round, I’ll be racing at Suzuka for the first time, so there will be a lot for me to learn. All I can try to do is keep making progress toward our goal of finishing in the top five.”
• #21 Brandon Paul Demmery (-/19th)
  “It was a very difficult race. The track was bumpy, which made it hard to get a good suspension setting and also hard to get the most out of the R25’s inherent advantage in top speed. The only positive thing was that I was able to work my way up through the pack after starting far down on the grid. Looking ahead toward Suzuka, I’ll focus on pushing harder and working on a machine set-up that makes the most of the bike’s top speed, so I can try to get better results than I have so far.”
• Team Manager Eddy Saputra
  “For both our riders this was a circuit they had little experience on and the conditions of the track surface were tricky, so we went into this round with settings that were not meant for challenging the competition but focused on finishing the race successfully. That affected our results, but I feel it was also good because we were able to finish the race while many other riders dropped out. In the next round we plan to compete with more aggressive machine settings in order to improve on our results here.”
• Yamaha Yamalube KYT Tunggal Jaya Racing
  #32 Muhamad Hasyim Zaki Adil (-/DNF)
  “Today was really an unlucky day for me. Race 1 was red-flagged and in Race 2, I ran over some leaked oil from another rider’s machine and fell. The whole team had come well prepared for our home race and I was confident of doing well, so it’s especially frustrating. I want to take this frustration and erase it all with a good performance at Suzuka.”
• Rusman Fadhil (-/DNS)
  “I broke a bone in my left arm in the multi-bike crash [in Race 1]. It’s really disappointing. I was competing well against our rivals with a good shot at a podium, and most of all, I had wanted to have a good race in front of so many local fans that had come to watch. I’ll concentrate now on my recovery and try to be well prepared for the next race.”
• Team Manager Rudy Ariano
  “With this being the home race for the riders and the team, we came here with big expectations. Fadhil especially had been riding extremely well from the first day and had delivered some of the top performances among the Yamaha riders. But in Race 1, he broke his left arm in the multi-bike crash and had to abstain from riding in Race 2. Our rivals are getting stronger with every race but the R25 and our riders are also improving equally fast. We hope to make more progress at the next round at Suzuka and improve on our results.”
• YAMAHA MLT RACING TEAM
  #26 Li Zheng Pang (-/14th)
  “I succeeded in losing 10 kg and was confident coming into this round, but despite being in good condition through race week from the free practices and qualifying, we couldn’t get good settings and I ended up crashing several times as a result. So, all was to no avail. It’s a very disappointing result, but I was still able to get some series points, which I feel was a good thing. I know that Suzuka is a wonderful course, but I’ve never ridden there so I‘ll do my best to overcome that disadvantage.”
• #28 Meng Xing Bin (-/17th)
  “It turned out to be a weekend with a lot of issues for us to tackle. The track conditions were difficult, and it was bumpier than courses I’ve raced on in China. That made it difficult to get good suspension settings. With all the troubles, we learned a lot this weekend. For the next round at Suzuka, I’ll be preparing myself both physically and mentally.”
• Team Manager Louis Mok
  “Li came into this round with a lot of confidence. He managed to keep that confidence even after his first fall. Normally, I should have stepped in to try to keep him in control, so I regret that I failed to do so. That led to his second fall. Meng comes to us from scooter racing, and even though this was the second round for him, he still lacks experience. He should be able to make progress gradually from here on. At Suzuka we expect to see more local [Japanese] riders entering the races, so it should be more difficult. Still, the team will be working with the goal of getting Li to finish in the top ten and Meng in the top twenty.”
• TEAM YSK Korea
  #52 Hogon Lim (-/16th)
  “Today, I fell just short of getting a series point. Still, I’m very happy that I‘ve been able to come this far by just the second round in such a big competition in Asia. My racing was good I feel. I was able to think while battling our rivals and challenge them with my riding. But, since our company president Kim came to see the race, I’m still sorry I wasn’t able to get any points. The next round will be in Japan and Suzuka is a circuit that our mechanic Muroi-san has experience at. Next time I’ll be trying my best to get some series points.”
• #88 Minseok Baik (-/DNF)
  “Although the first race was canceled, I crashed in both races. I really feel that I’ve disappointed company president Kim, the team, Yamaha and all the people who cheered for us. Having regretted my performance last time, I dieted and lost 4 kg. My physical condition was good and I had done thorough image training before the race, so this result was especially disappointing for me. For the next round, I’ll try to get a result worthy of all the support and encouragement I’ve received.”
• Team Manager Kibok Ku
  “Considering that this was the first time for Lim to race here and the difficult track conditions, I thought he did well to finish just barely outside the points. As for Baik, he has been working to get in the best physical shape for racing on the R25 and throughout the race week, he worked very diligently. But in the end, he wasn’t able to turn those efforts into results. Still, both riders have given the best effort they could, and the R25 is making steady progress, so I’m hopeful that at the next round at Suzuka, we will finally win some points.”
• Koji Kobayashi (Asia Support Representative, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.)
  “At the opening round, all of the teams had their hands full just trying to get out there and ride for the first time on the new ARRC race-spec R25. But this time, they were more relaxed and confident. Although there wasn’t any really big progress in terms of results, the quality of the racing has definitely gotten closer to that of our rivals. With regard to the machines, all the teams are actively making efforts to try and improve the bike’s potential in their own individual ways. This proves that they all have high expectations for the R25 and its possibilities as a race machine, and I’m sure that will lead to active racing efforts as well as help to spread the knowhow they gain by racing throughout the markets. For our step-up structure to function, building a strong foundation is very important, and we can now sense that this three-part foundation of riders, the machine and the teams is coming together and getting stronger. Please look forward to seeing the next step in this growth at Suzuka.”