Azlan and Zamri take front row starts, thanks to new tyre ruling

PETALING JAYA: The new tyre ruling continued to benefit Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Mohd Zamri Baba as they clinched front row starts for the final leg of the Petronas Asia Road Racing Championships (ARRC) at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on Friday.

Manual Tech BEET Kawasaki Racing rider Katsuaki Fujiwara, who erased his former record of 2:06.600 with anew time of 2:06.398, will start in pole position.

Azlan Shah, who is fourth overall in the SuperSports 600cc standings with 136 points, recorded the second fastest time of 2:06.524 and will be starting next to Fujiwara. Petronas Hong Leong Yamaha’s Zamri took the final position on the front row in 2:06.575.

Zamri’s team-mate Yuki Ito will start in the second row alongside Ryuichi Kiyonari and Makoto Inagaki.

“We made a lot of progress today. After coming in fastest yesterday, I made it to the top of the time sheets for the third practice. I was hoping to keep the momentum going for the qualifying but Fujiwara slip-streamed me to log in a better lap time. I’m not too worried because the gap isn’t so big and I’m still starting the race from the front,” said Azlan.

The Indonesian riders dominated the Underbone 115cc qualifying with Kawasaki KYT Rextor Manual Tech’s Gupita Kresna breaking the practice lap record with a time of 2:36.017 to take pole position.

He was followed by compatriots Rey Ratukore (Nissin R9 KYT Federal Oil BRT) and Yudhistira in 2:37.161 and 2:37.962 respectively.

Mohd Affendi Rosli, who went out on a pair of used tyres, clocked 2:38.280 to qualify in fourth place followed by CKJ Yamaha Racing’s Ahmad Afif Amran. Overall champion Hadi Wijaya of Yamaha Yamalube KYT R9 Tunggal Jaya was sixth.