Asia Talent Cup 2022
Round Four – Buriram
Round Four- Race One – Buriram
Carter Thompson had taken pole and was in the lead quartet throughout the opening 16-lap bout at Buriram, but after being taken out in previous rounds the 14-year-old definitely wanted to ensure he finished this one without being skittled.
Thompson was in the mix for the win right to the flag, but gave his fellow competitors plenty of room to ensure he was able to come away with good points. After being almost taken out on the opening lap, he put a bit too much wear on his tyres in his quest to catch back up to the leading pack, which left him with a less than perfect tool to battle with in the final laps.
Three-tenths of a second covered the leading quartet at the chequered flag but it was Malaysian rider Hakim Danish that took the opening victory ahead of Indonesian Veda Ega Pratama and Japanese rider Gun Mie while Thompson finished fourth.
Thompson disappointed not to be on the podium considering his speed and potential, but satisfied to get some good points on the board after three DNFs this season.
In fifth place, but 12-seconds further back, was fellow Australian Marianos Nikolis. This was the 14-year-old’s best result of the season and he was engaged in a heady six-rider battle for that fifth place over the final laps, but the Aussie won that position by a nose ahead of Japanese rider Shinya Ezawa. Nikolis also recorded the fastest lap of the race on his way to the fifth place finish.
While Nikolis has generally not been able to match the race speed of countryman Thompson at most rounds this year, he has managed to score points in all but one race so far this season. That record sees him in tenth place in the championship and the leading Australian, four-points ahead of Thompson.
Cameron Swain just missed out on a championship point, crossing the line in 16th place, 37-seconds behind the podium finishers. Swain has kept his nose clean to finish every race so far this season, with best finishes of 11th scored in Qatar and Indonesia.
Buriram Asia Talent Cup Race One Results
- Hakim Danish
- Veda Ega Pratama +0.046s
- Gun Mie +0.263s
- Carter Thompson +0.298s
- Marianos Nikolis +12.624s
- Shinya Ezawa +12.674s
- Farres Putra +13.028s
- Jakkreephat Phuettisan +13.217s
- Reykat Fadillah +13.122s (position penalty track limits)
- Thanakorn Lakharn +13.699s
- Aan Riswanto +16.418s (3-secs penalty track limits)
- Farish Hafay +22.808s
- Hamad Al-Sahouti +22.427s (position penalty track limits)
- Burapa Wanmoon +22.918s
- Thanat Laoongplio +25.828s (3-secs penalty track limits)
- Cameron Swain +37.650s
- Amon Odaki +44.729s
- Vatican Sukkum +45.266s
- Emil Izdhar +46.016s
- Kavin Quintal +53.865s
Buriram Asia Talent Cup Race Two
A morning shower had left the Buriram Circuit damp in places which saw riders form up on the grid on wet tyres for the long 16-lap race.
The 73 kilometre race distance much longer than we see here in the Australian Superbike Championship, where most of the domestic premier class races are only around 50 kilometres, and support class races as short as 30 kilometres.
Carter Thompson got a good run off pole but Danish led through turn one before the Australian nosed ahead on the next straight. However, the field was so closely packed, and positions changing so often, it was almost impossible to keep track of who was where in the melee.
Only a lap later though Mie and Thompson had established their superiority over the throng and started to break away.
As Thompson and Mie traded places at the front, Pratama started reeling them in, Phuettisan and Ezawa were also trying to gatecrash that party…
With 12 laps still to run Thompson was in second place, countrymen Nikolis in 15th, and Swain 20th.
By half race distance, with the wet rubber now getting quite worn on the mainly dry track, Pratama passed Thompson and Mie, then built up a buffer of more than a second.
Thompson was second ahead of Mie, but that pair now had around 1.5-seconds on Danish, who was leading a group of three tussling over fourth place that included Ezawa and Fadillah.
Carter Thompson set a new fastest lap next time around but that will still not enough to make any significant inroads towards Pratama.
Veda Ega Pratama continued to pull away with apparent ease, stretching away to the tune of almost a second a lap in the second half of the race, unheard of in this category.
While Pratama was just racing himself out front, Carter Thompson and Gun Mie were tussling over second place.
A few seconds behind Thompson and Mie there was a heady battle for fourth being waged between Ezawa, Danish, Riswanto, Phuettisa and Fadillah.
Thompson started the final lap in second place with Mie still right on his tail. Thompson briefly exceeded track limits on the final lap though and beat Mie to the flag to claim that second place.
An incredible and dominant victory from 13-year-old Indonesian rider Veda Ega Pratama.
Thompson was pushed down a spot in the results due to exceeding track limits but remained on the podium.
Marianos Nikolis was unable to match his race one form but still claimed a couple of points in 14th place, 37-seconds behind race winner Pratama, and 30-seconds away from the podium.
Carter Thompson’s 16-points from race two saw him leapfrog his countryman in the championship standings to leave Thailand as the top placed Aussie.
Cameron Swain again brought the bike home but failed to add any points to his tally. Swain crossed the line in 18th place, 80-seconds behind the victory.
Unfortunately the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup is not on the race card at the Australian GP, but instead reconvenes as a supporting act to the Malaysian GP at Sepang on the weekend of October 23. The final round then takes place alongside the World Superbike Championship at Mandalika on the weekend of November 11.
Buriram Asia Talent Cup Race Two Results
- Veda Ega Pratama
- Gun Mie +7.407
- Carter Thompson +7.144 (position penalty track limits)
- Shinya Ezawa +12.349
- Jakkreephat Phuettisan +12.990
- Aan Riswanto +13.491
- Hakim Danish +14.234
- Reykat Fadillah +14.327
- Thanakorn Lakharn +20.801
- Diandra Trihardika +21.027
- Farres Putra +28.298
- Thanat Laoongplio +30.076
- Amon Odaki +36.668
- Marianos Nikolis +37.709
- Emil Izdhar +37.743
- Vatican Sukkum +46.627
- Kavin Quintal +80.651
- Cameron Swain +80.688
- Nguyen Tran Duc Tai +86.930
Asia Talent Cup Championship Points
- Danish 126
- Ezawa 119
- Mie 89
- Al-Sahouti 73
- Pratama 71
- Odaki 66
- Fadillah 53
- Phuettisan 53
- Thompson 48
- Wakamatsu 42
- Nikolis 38
- Putra 31
- Riswanto 30
- Hafiy 29
- Trihardika 28
- Laoongplio 20
- Lakharn 20
- Swain 12
- Izdhar 10
- Tran 4
- Akbar 4
- Quintal 3
- Wanmoon 2
- Sukkum 0
