Japan's Yuki Ito heads Sepang ARRC Test Day Two

Japan’s Yuki Ito heads Sepang ARRC Test Day Two
Mark Aitchison top Australian in Supersport – Kavney dislocates shoulder

Japan’s Yuki Ito claimed the fastest lap on Day Two of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship pre-season test, topping the timesheet in 1’05.424s to snatch away the lead from compatriot Makoto Inagaki at the Sepang Circuit on Thursday.

The Petronas Hong Leong Yamaha rider posted the quickest lap on his 12th lap in the fifth outing, and lapped consistently in the 1 minute 5 seconds bracket for the remainder of the session.

Malaysian rider, Zamri Baba (Musashi Boon Siew Honda) was second best with 1’05.600s while Makoto Inagaki (Akeno Speed Racing) was unable to mirror his Day One performance came in third with 1’05.926s

Tomoyoshi Koyama (T.Pro Yuzy Honda NTS) registered fourth followed by M.Fadli (Astra Honda Racing Team) with 1’05.920s and 1’05.926s respectively.

“We had a better pace compared to yesterday but we are far from perfect. We targeted 1 minute 4 seconds but the track surface was not ideal as there was a lot of residue from last weekend’s F1 race. Most of the riders faced the same issue. Hopefully, the condition will improve tomorrow,” said Yuki who finished the 2014 season as runner-up behind reigning Champion, Zaqhwan Zaidi who has now moved to the Moto2 World Championship.

Mark Aitchison was the only one of the four Australian riders taking part in the Supersport test to sneak inside the top ten in any of the three sessions today but on combined times Aitchison slipped just outside the top ten late in the day. Michael Blair was the next best performing Australian ahead of Aaron Morris and Callum Spriggs.

Michael Blair – “It’s been a good test so far, with not having ridden here last year we are a bit behind the eight ball but I have been improving every session and am happy with the direction we are taking. There are a few more little problems we need to fix but I am loving it being over here testing and really looking forward to the year ahead.”

Meanwhile Trickstar Racing’s Takehiro Yamamoto carried on his momentum to once again lead the Asia Production 250cc (AP250) field and improve his lap time almost a second faster.

Takehiro was the only rider to dip below 1 minute 16 seconds on the second day of testing, clocking in the best lap in 1’16.834s, edging out Yamaha Factory Racing Indonesia trio, Sigit Purno and Galang Hendra and Imanuel Putra who timed 1’17.301s, 1’17.757s and 1’18.620s.

T Pro Yuzy Honda’s Amirul Ariff Musa rounded off the top five with 1’18.381s while young Australian Brandon Demmery ended the day eighth quickest.

Hiroki Nakamura was fastest in the Asia Dream Cup category on Day Two at Sepang. Australia’s Broc Pearson finished the Asia Dream Cup test 12th quickest. Mitch Kavney struggled through the afternoon after dislocating his shoulder.

Mitch Kavney – “I spent yesterday learning he track which is a hard track to learn. Me and my mechanic Mark Perfrement found a decent set up early on and decided to focus on learning the track and going faster. Rain have us a half wet half dry track in the afternoon.

“This morning I dislocated my shoulder when going down at T2. Fortunately I was able to get back out and get more time on track although unable to match my pace from the previous day. In the last two sessions I did my best to block out the pain. With some more time on the track I believe I would be more competitive.

“It was a great two days and I would like to thank Honda for the opportunity and Mark for coming over and being my mechanic.”

Separately, reigning Underbone 130cc champion, Gupita Kresna returned to his true form as the Indonesian rider blazed to the top of the Underbone 130cc timesheets. The Manual Tech Rextor representative logged the quickest lap of 1’21.624s on his second lap in the sixth session.

His compatriot, Ferlando Herdian (BKMS Indonesia Racing Team) was second fastest overall with 1’21.836s while Azhar Abdul Jalil (Yamaha YY Pang) recorded 1’22.144s.

Lastly Patis Chooprathet ended Day Two on a high as the Thai native claimed the best lap on Day Two in the Suzuki Asian Challenge. Patis recorded his best lap of 1’28.067s in the morning session ahead of his Indonesian rivals, Adhi Chandra and Andreas Gunawan who timed 1’28.109s and 1’28.201s.

Thursday marks the end of the pre-season test for the Underbone 130cc, Asia Dream Cup and Suzuki Asian Challenge while the SuperSports 600cc and Asia Production 250cc will continue their test on Friday.