Astra Honda Racing Team (AHRT) racer, Rheza Danica Ahrens won the second podium in the
first race of the fifth series of the Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) 2023 (4/11) Asia
Production 250cc (AP250) class at Zhuhai International Circuit, China.
This result strengthens the top 3 positions in the standings controlled by AHRT racers riding
CBR250RR, namely Rheza with Veda Ega Pratama and Herjun Atna Firdaus, where one of the
AHRT racers is certain to become the Asian AP250 champion.
The ARRC race in Zhuhai, China was utilized as optimally as possible for the racers under PT
Astra Honda Motor (AHM) to reach the highest podium. Rheza and his teammates, Veda and
Herjun appeared aggressive throughout the race.
From the results obtained in the AP250 class qualifying session, Veda was able to occupy first
place with the fastest time of 1:50.117. Meanwhile, Rheza and Herjun started the race from
fourth and fifth positions with the fastest times of 1:50.583 and 1:50.741.
After starting the first race on Saturday (4/11), Rheza had difficulty maintaining his position
until he dropped to seventh position. Slowly, Rheza was able to enter the leading group along
with three other racers.
Entering the fifth lap, he appeared consistently and impressively by providing tight resistance
to the other racers. Finally, Rheza managed to finish in second place after competing in the last
corner until he touched the finish line.
Veda also appeared dominant throughout the race. This young racer was able to maintain first
position from the start of the race and was able to widen the gap with the other racers by up to
7 seconds.
However, Veda had to undergo a ride trough penalty which he served on lap 8, and had to
settle for finishing in sixth position. Meanwhile, another racer, Herjun, had to finish the race
faster due to falling at the last corner on the second lap.
With this result, it is certain that the AP250 championship will be held by AHRT racers
considering that the current standings are occupied by 3 AHRT racers, namely Rheza in first
place with 175 points, Herjun in second place with 149 points, and Veda in third place with a
total of 110 points.
In the Supersport 600cc (SS600) class, AHRT racer Adenanta Putra started from third position
obtained from qualifying results with the fastest time of 1:36.893. Since the start of the race,
Adenanda competed with other racers in the leading group.
In the middle of the race, an incident occurred and the red flag was raised, causing the race to
stop for a moment. The race continued with tight competition between racers in the last 4
laps. Adenanta was stuck in the second group and had to settle for finishing in 8th position.
In the Asia Superbike 1000cc class, Andi Farid Izdihar, who is currently a member of Honda
Asia-Dream Racing, gave his best performance by riding a CBR1000RR.
Starting from second position, he competed fiercely in the first group by facing three other
racers for the podium. Andi finally finished in fourth position.
The second race in the fifth ARRC series in Zhuhai, China will be held on Sunday, November 5
- The AP250 class takes place at 13:30 WIB and the SS600 class at 14:20 WIB.
Racer Quotes
Rheza:
Alhamdullillah, this first race gave good results for me and Astra Honda. What is certain is that
it strengthens my confidence to perform even better in the next race.
Thank you very much to the team who has worked hard to provide the best motorbike for
me. In today’s very tight battle, I can still continue to compete in the top group and hopefully
the second race tomorrow can be even better.
Vedas:
I really enjoyed this race in China, even though I didn’t get on the podium in the first race. I
focus on giving my best performance.
Even though I have to suffer a penalty, I already have an idea about the Zhuhai circuit and will
try to win in race two tomorrow. Please support Indonesian racing lovers to be able to provide
the best results.
Herjun:
I am not satisfied with today’s race. I had pretty good capital and got good momentum when I
was able to fight in the front group. However, I made a few mistakes that were fatal.
When entering the last corner, I overspeeded so I lost control and had to fall. I will try to do
better in tomorrow’s race.
Adenanta:
This first race did not go as expected. When I tried to push to continue to compete with the top
group, I couldn’t control the rear wheel traction, especially when accelerating in corners.
This made me lose a little time and find it difficult to be able to fight in the top group. I will try
to perform even better in the second race tomorrow.
Source : Zonasultra.id
