Honda stars dominate ARRC season opener in Thailand

2025 Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championships
Round One – Chang International Circuit, Buriram, Thailand

ASB 1000

ASB 1000 Race One

The heavens opened an hour before the opening ASB 1000 contest of the 2025 Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championship got underway at Buriram on Saturday. However, the track was mainly dry when competitors took to the grid for race one.

Local Honda Thailand star Nakarin Atiratphuvapat took the victory by a couple of bike lengths over Honda Malaysia hotshot Muhammad Zaqhwan Zadi over a shortened ten-lap race distance.

Ex MotoGP rider Hafizh Syahrin rounded out the podium on a JDT Racing Ducati, five-seconds behind the leading duo.

Lachlan Epis took ninth place on the Savitar Team Asia BMW ahead of young countryman Cam Dunker who made his debut in the series with the same MotoGo Yamaha squad he races with in the Australian Superbike Championship.

Epis took the flag just under ten-seconds after the victor, while Dunker was just over 20-seconds behind the winner at the end of the ten-lap contest.  Epis had earlier qualified fifth while Dunker started from tenth place on the grid.

ASB 1000 Race One Results

ASB 1000 Race Two

The second bout on Sunday was somewhat of a repeat act, Nakarin Atiratphuvapat taking the victory over Muhammad Zaqhwan Zadi, this time however the margin was a more significant 1.2-seconds.

Nakarin Atiratphuvapat

“Today, the track temperature was hot. My race pace wasn’t so fast, but I tried to concentrate on my riding, focusing only on what was in front of me. I attacked from the beginning. When I saw I had a one-second gap from the group, I controlled the pace. Towards the end, I felt more tired, and Zaqhwan was closing in, but I managed to control the situation. It was a perfect race and a perfect weekend. I’m also happy to finish the home race with such a great result for Round 1.”

Abe rounded out the podium ahead of Anuar and Syahrin.

Lachlan Epis claimed seventh place, ten-seconds behind the winner, while another ten-seconds further back was countryman Cam Dunker.

Lachlan Epis

“Our weekend as a whole wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad either, it was middle of the road. We did a good job in qualifying to put a lap down good enough for fifth and in race two our fastest lap was only a tenth off the fastest lap of the race so our outright pace was there to be where we want and expect to be this season. However I wasn’t aggressive enough in the opening lap of race one which put me on the back foot and in race two I spent too long behind other riders and cooked my tyre and brakes. Looking forward however we get our hands on the 2025 bike for the rest of the season and by the looks of it, it will be a step forward in power which should make overtaking much easier than it was for me this weekend.”

ASB 1000 Race Two Results

ASB 1000 Points

SS600

Jack Mahaffy had entered the Supersport 600 class at the ARRC season opener but ultimately did not take part in the races after aggravating an old injury.

SS600 Race One Results

SS600 Race Two Results

SS600 Points

AP250 Race One Results

AP250 Race Two Results

AP250 Points

UB150 Race One Results

UB150 Race Two Results

UB150 Points

TVS Asia

Hunter Corney was in the podium battle across both TVS Asia One Make Championship races at Buriram, including taking some turns at leading the race. Corney also set the fastest lap of the race on his way to a sixth place in race one.

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Corney was in the battle for the lead in the second bout throughout most of the contest before a clash with another rider sent him off track, demoting him down to eighth place and out of the leading group as they started the last lap.

The impact was so violent that the airbag in Corney’s suit actually went off in the incident, but he still managed to salvage an eighth place finish and over the course of the weekend proved his talent on a different stage.

TVS Asia Race One Results

TVS Asia Race Two Results

TVS Asia Points