Mixed weekend for the Australian contingent in Japan.
Round three of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship has seen Decha Kraisart (Yamaha) and defending champion Yuki Takahashi (Honda) have split wins in the Suzuka round of the series in Japan.
Kraisart claimed the opening SuperSports 600cc race victory in a two-part race of attrition, overcoming the challenges of Takahashi and Tomoyoshi Koyama (Honda) on the podium.
In race two it was Takahashi who returned to the winner’s circle from pole position on home grounds, edging out Koyama and Yuki Ito (Yamaha). Meanwhile, race one winner Kraisart crashed out on lap 11 at the chicane.
Previous championship leader Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman was absent from the race two grid. The Kawasaki rider crashed out after the chequered flag on Saturday and sustained a broken leg. Koyama became the new leader, as Takahashi also jumped from fourth to second.
Yamaha-mounted Australian Anthony West was 10th in the opening race, but was forced out of the second while running fourth with a broken shifter. Countryman Michael Blair (Yamaha) was a non-finisher in race one, but bounced back for a point in 15th come race two.
The two-hour Asia Dream Endurance Race was won by Azhar Mohd Noor and Bui Duy Thong, while Australian talent Broc Pearson and his Indonesian partner Mohd Febriansyah finished on the podium in second position.