Pratama peerless on home turf to build hefty Asia Talent Cup lead

2023 Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup

Round Three – Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia

The ATC saw Veda Pratama and Amon Odaki battle it out right down to the wire in the opening race of the weekend as the championship hit the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia. Just two-tenths of a second separated the leading duo across the line, Pratama taking the win, while Zen Mitani completed the podium in third.

Indonesia’s Veda Pratama went on to be the double race winner, backing up his Saturday success with a dominant Sunday display, beating Zen Mitani and Amon Odaki by 5.9s, leaving the duo and Ryota Ogiwara to battle for the final podium positions. Ogiwara missing the podium accolades.

Race One

Pratama grabbed the holeshot from pole position but Odaki was able to take the lead a couple of times on the opening two laps to disrupt the Indonesian’s early rhythm, while the race for victory quickly became a two-horse race between Pratama and Odaki, with two lead contenders going down at Turn 1 on Lap 2 – Shinya Ezawa and Ryota Ogiwara.

Pratama and Odaki were a second quicker per lap than the chasers throughout and on the penultimate lap, after the lead changed hands several times, Pratama was up the inside of Odaki at Turn 10.

The #7 was wide, but because he’d parked his Honda machine directly alongside Odaki, the latter had nowhere to go. This meant Pratama had a 0.5s advantage heading onto the final lap. Job done?

Absolutely not. Odaki nailed the first and second sectors to reattach himself to Pratama’s rear wheel. A dive up the inside came at Turn 15 but reacting immediately, Pratama bit back at Turn 16.

They were both wide, Odaki was out of the seat twice, but Pratama got the pass done. Despite a front-end scare at the final corner, Pratama claimed a home race victory to extend his standings lead, with Odaki agonisingly close in P2.

Impressive rookie Mitani won the race for the final podium spot in P3, the Japanese star finished ahead of Farish Hafiy and Jakkreephat Phuettisan – the latter completing the top five.

Reykat Fadilah claimed P6 on home soil, with Marianos Nikolis, Indonesian wildcard Decksa Almer, Riichi Takahira and Chessy Meilandri bagging top 10s in Mandalika.

It was a disappointing start to the weekend for Levi Russo with a DNF.

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ATC Indonesia Race One Results

Race Two

As he did in Race 1, Pratama got the perfect launch from pole position but unlike on Saturday, Odaki wasn’t able to ruffle the #7’s feathers early doors.

Pratama immediately pulled the pin and once Odaki had made a mistake at Turn 16 in the opening exchanges, the race for victory was between Pratama and no one else.

The podium fight came down to three riders – Mitani, Odaki and Ryota Ogiwara. Three Japanese riders fighting for two spots on the podium.

The P2 baton was changing lap by lap and as Pratama came home to claim a dream home double, Mitani won the race to the line by 0.017s – getting the better of Odaki in the final sector. Ogiwara was less than half a tenth away from the podium in P4 to rebound well after a crash in Race 1.

Shinya Ezawa had a tricky race but managed to rescue P5 in what was another brilliant ATC battle for the top six. Jakkreephat Phuettisan grabbed P6 ahead of Farish Hafiy and Riichi Takahira, with ninth place Marianos Nikolis also in that fight.

Farres Putra completed the top 10, the Malaysian was only a couple of seconds shy of P5.

Levi Russo had a better second race, finishing 15th.

Pratama now leads the standings on 145-points, Mitani second on 99 and Takahira third on 70, with fourth and fifth placed Phuettisan and Odaki not far off on 66 and 65 respectively.

Marianos is the top Aussie in 14th on 21-points, Russo 17th on 14.

ATC Indonesia Race Two Results

2023 Asia Talent Cup Standings