Aussies strong performers in 2016 ARRC
Broc Pearson narrowly misses out on podium in final Asia Dream Cup standings
Anthony West sixth overall in Supersport 600cc
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 at the Chang International Circuit.
With the championship title in the bag, Nakamura ended the season with a 84-point lead over the next three closest riders, with Australian Broc Pearson, Md Febriansyah and Hafiz Nor Azman all in contention for the final two championship podium spots as the final round played out in Thailand last weekend.
For Round 6, Broc Pearson’s weekend was off to a good start with pole position and a lap record in qualifying, only to lose the rear during the first of the weekend’s two races, posting a DNF result and missing out on valuable points.
Broc Pearson
“In racing there is always ups and downs but you must never give up. This morning I went pole with a new lap record, over half a second quicker then anyone else. Unfortunately in the race I lost the rear on the second lap and did not finish the race.”
The second race saw Broc recover to take eighth place overall, with fellow Australian Corey Briffa taking 15th position. Briffa took 11th in the preceding day’s race.
Unfortunately for Broc the DNF result left him placed fourth overall in the championship, just 0.5 points ahead of Koko Masaharu Tadachi and one point ahead of Yaasiin Gabriel Somma. Corey Briffa ended the year in 17th overall place with 27 championship points to his name.
The final points tally saw Hiroki Nakamura on 228 points, Hafiz Nor Azman second with 144 points, Mohd Febriansyah third with 143 points and Broc Pearson fourth with 122 points.
2016Â Asia Dream Cup final standings
- Hiroki Nakamura – JPN – Honda – 228
- Hafiz Nor Azman – MAS – Honda – 144
- Md Febriansyah – INA – Honda – 143
- Broc Pearson – AUS – Honda – 122
- Koko Masaharu Tadachi – PHI – Honda – 121.5
- Yaasiin Gabriel Somma – INA – Honda – 121
- Zhou Sheng Jun Jie – CHN – Honda – 115
- Sittipon Srimoontree – THA – Honda – 99
- Woraphod Niamsakhonsakul – THA – Honda – 94
- Md Harith Farhan – MAS Honda 85
….17 Corey Briffa AUS Honda 27
ARRC SuperSports 600
In the ARRC SuperSports 600 Ant West (Akeno Speed WJR Racing Team) headed into the final round on 89 points, having won Round 5 with a clean sweep from Decha Kraisart, who was runner up in both Round 5 races.
Another clean sweep of the final round offered the possibility of a top three overall result, depending largely on the points accrued by other leading riders, and West took fourth in qualifying for a strong start to the weekend.
In the first race however he was forced off track to avoid a fallen rider, pushing him back to 10th place, from which he recovered back to fifth.
Anthony West
“Well I had the pace to win but with the bad luck of Takahashi crashing in front of me I had to avoid running over the top of him as he slid down the road. I run off the track and that made me drop back to 10th. I had to fight hard to get places back to finally finish 5th.”
In Race 2 West was just three-tenths of a second off the race winning time, and two-tenths of a second behind second placed Chalermpol Polamai. Decha Kraisart took both race wins of Round 6, claiming fifth overall, one position ahead of Ant West who was sixth overall with 126 points.
Fellow Australian Michael Blair (Finson Motorsports Australia) also competed in Rounds 1, 3, 4, and 6 in the SuperSports 600, ending the season ranked 27th with three championship points to his name. He finished 18th in both Race 1 and Race 2 of Round 6.
Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi became the FIM Asian SuperSports 600cc champion for the second time in his career after the results from Race 2 brought his points haul to a total of 162 points.
Tomoyoshi Koyama was second overall with 158 points while Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman ended the season in third overall with 142 points.
ARRC SuperSports 600 final standings
- Md Zaqhwan Zaidi – MAS – Musashi Boon Siew Honda Racing – Honda – 162
- Tomoyoshi Koyama – JPN – T. Pro Yuzy Honda NTS With WOW – Honda – 158
- Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman – MAS – BikeART Racing Kawasaki – Kawasaki – 142
- Yuki Takahashi – JPN – Musashi Boon Siew Honda Racing – Honda – 136
- Decha Kraisart – THA – Yamaha Thailand Racing Team – Yamaha – 135
- Anthony Keith West – AUS – Akeno Speed WJR Racing Team – Yamaha – 126
- Dimas Ekky Pratama – INA – Astra Honda Racing Team – Honda – 120
- Ahmad Yudhistira – INA – Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki Racing – Kawasaki – 101
- Gerry Salim – INA – Astra Honda Racing Team – Honda – 98
- Taiga Hada – JPN – T. Pro Yuzy Honda NTS With WOW – Honda – 74
… 27. Michael Blair – AUS – Finson Motorsports Australia – Yamaha – 3
Asia Production 250cc
In the Asia Production 250cc Jack Mahaffy also raced for Yamaha Finson Racing, placing 16th in Race 1 of Round 6 and 24th in Race 2.
The outcome from the final race of the season saw Apiwat Wongthananon toting up 246 points this season to take the overall championship. Takehiro Yamamoto notched up 171 points while Anupab Sarmoon finished third overall with 166 points.
Jack Mahaffy
“The final round of the ARRC at the Burriram International Circuit of Thailand was fun with some good battles in both races. I finished 16th in Race 1 and after a run off at the start of race 2 I had to fight hard just to move up a few places. I have learned a lot this year and I would like to thank the Finson Racing Team for the opportunity. I would not be racing without the support of Mum and Dad.”
ARRC Asia Production 250cc final standings
- Apiwat Wongthananon – THA – Yamaha Thailand Racing Team – Yamaha – 246
- Takehiro Yamamoto – JPN – TRICKSTAR Racing Kawasaki – 171
- Anupab Sarmoon – THA – Yamaha Thailand Racing Team – Yamaha – 166
- Peerapong Loiboonpeng – THA – Yamaha Thailand Racing – Team Yamaha – 148
- Galang Hendra Pratama – INA – Yamaha Racing Indonesia – Yamaha – 106
