News 5 Dec 2016

Zaidi crowned as West claims another ARRC podium at Chang

Asia Road Racing Championship comes to a close in Thailand.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda rider Zaqhwan Zaidi became the FIM Asian SuperSports 600cc champion for the second time in his career when he did just enough to lift the 2016 trophy at the final leg of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship in Buriram, Thailand.

Malaysian charger Zaidi was the class of the Asia Road Racing Championship at the conclusion of the Chang International Circuit weekend, going 7-6 in the pair of races to surprisingly clinch the crown.

“I honestly did not know that I had won the title,” Zaidi said. “There was no information on my pit board and I was unaware that [Tomoyoshi] Koyama had retired halfway through the race. I was just focusing on pacing myself and making sure that I finished as high as I could. I was surprised to be greeted by the pit-lane marshalls and instructed to ride to the podium. That was when I saw my team celebrating our fifth Asian win.”

Local Decha Kraisart (Yamaha Thailand Racing Team) won both races to cap off the season, edging out teammate Chalermpol Polamai on both occasions. Meanwhile Queenslander Anthony West (Akeno Speed WJR Racing Team Yamaha) improved from fifth in race one to third in the second, taking sixth in the points. Countryman Michael Blair (Finson Motorsports Yamaha) went 18-18.

2016 Asia Dream Cup champion Hiroki Nakamura bid farewell to the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship with one last victory in the final race of the season, while the opener was taken out by Yassiin Gabriel Somma. Australia’s Broc Pearson bounced back from a DNF in race one for eighth in the second, with Corey Briffa going 11-15.

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