2023 Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup
Round One – Sepang International Circuit
Race One
The 2023 Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup kicked into action at Sepang International Circuit over the weekend. Race One was held on Saturday and it went down to the wire as rookie Riichi Takahira beat Veda Pratama by 0.113s to the line with Zen Mitani completing the podium.
Launching from pole position, Pratama grabbed the holeshot into Turn 1, with Mitani and Reykat Fadilah in hot pursuit as the riders negoitated a damp but drying Sepang layout.
A lead group of Pratama, Mitani, Takahira and Fadilah formed on the opening couple of laps, but the chasing pack soon closed back in.
Eight riders found themselves in the podium fight with seven laps to go, but Takahira then turned up the wick.
Takahira threatened to pull clear but with three laps left, Pratama was briefly back in the lead. On the penultimate lap, Takahira and Pratama had gained crucial ground over pursuers Mitani, Amon Odaki and Fadilah as it became a two-way fight for victory in the opening race of the season.
Takahira held the advantage through the opening half of the lap and held Pratama at bay down the long back straight. Takahira made no mistake at the final corner and took a debut win in the ATC, as Pratama and Mitani completed the podium.
Fourth place Odaki was a couple of tenths shy of a podium, with Fadilah only 1.7s off the win in P5. Ryota Ogiwara and Jakkreephat Phuettisan crossed the line together in P6 and P7 respectively, as Farres Putra, Hamad Al-Sahouti and Ahmad Darwisy completed the top 10.
Australia’s Levi Russo finished in 15th, while a crash in qualifying for Marianos Nikolis ended with an injured finger requiring surgery, ruling him out of racing for the weekend.
ATC Sepang Race One
Race One Results
| Pos | Rider | Gap |
| 1 | Riichi TAKAHIRA (JPN) | — 11 laps — |
| 2 | Veda PRATAMA (INA) | +0.113 |
| 3 | Zen MITANI (JPN) | +1.210 |
| 4 | Amon ODAKI (JPN) | +1.497 |
| 5 | Reykat FADILAH (INA) | +1.745 |
| 6 | Ryota OGIWARA (JPN) | +6.433 |
| 7 | Jakkreephat PHUETTISAN (THA) | +6.511 |
| 8 | Farres PUTRA (MAL) | +9.732 |
| 9 | Hamad AL-SAHOUTI (QAT) | +11.849 |
| 10 | Ahmad DARWISY (MAL) | +12.196 |
| 11 | Hafizd Fahril RASYADAN (INA) | +23.265 |
| 12 | Farish HAFIY (MAL) | +25.110 |
| 13 | Burapa WANMOON (THA) | +25.150 |
| 14 | Sarthak C HAVAN (IND) | +29.127 |
| 15 | Levi RUSSO (AUS) | +29.140 |
| 16 | Chessy MEILANDRI (INA) | +33.957 |
| 17 | Jorge Raphael GADING (INA) | +34.164 |
| 18 | Adi PUTRA (MAL) | +52.926 |
Race Two
Race Two saw Indonesian Veda Pratama bounce back to claim a classy win after settling finishing runner-up in the opening bout. Impressive rookie Riichi Takahira picked up P2 in the dry conditions as Zen Mitani opened up his podium account for 2023 with a hard fought P3.
It was Pratama on pole once again and the #7 made sure the holeshot was his down into Turn 1, but Turn 3 saw Race 1 winner Takahira take the lead. By the end of the opening lap, Pratama had been shuffled down to P3 as Amon Odaki pounced at the final corner to make it an early Japanese 1-2 at the front.
In the early exchanges, Takahira got his head down and built a second advantage to the chasing pack. However, with eight laps to go, Pratama reeled in the leader.
The latter was soon the pacesetter as Takahira came under pressure from Mitani, with Ryota Ogiwara and Odaki keeping themselves in the podium hunt.
Heading into the closing stages, it was a two-way fight for victory between Pratama and Takahira. However, Pratama pulled the pin and heading onto the final lap the gap was up to 1.7s.
Pratama made no mistake and claimed his first victory of the season, beating Takahira by a comfortable 2.3s, as Mitani edged out Ogiwara for the final podium spot after Odaki highsided out of P3 at Turn 6 on the final lap.
Jakkreephat Phuettisan completed the top five to finish just ahead of Hamad Al-Sahouti, Hafizd Fahril Rasyadan, Farres Putra, Farish Hafiy and Ahmad Darwisy, as the riders rounding out the top 10 crossed the line just 1.4s seconds apart.
Levi Russo improved to 13th.
Marianos Nikolis – DNS/DNS
“I really couldn’t wait for this season to start i was very excited as I enjoy racing at Asia Talent Cup also I was going to be with my big brother that I haven’t seen for a long time. First weekend was the test and I made really great progress testing a lot of different setups and riding in mixed conditions. Finished up feeling positive for the races. Race weekend FP1 and FP2 continued to build and really fine tuned my setting in preparation for Qualifying and Race 1, feeling positive I made a good time in the start of qualifying but in the last 2 laps I thought I would give it a real hard push to try better my previous time unfortunately in the last corner on the final lap I had a slow crash though somehow managed to badly injure my little finger now needing an operation to repair which brought my weekend to a halt. Even though I’m so disappointed I understand that this is part of my sport. So off for some repair work and a good reset, I’ll be back for round 2 in Motegi more determined and stronger. Also a big thank you to all the helpers and staff from ATC, Diego, Aitor for putting a lot of his time in this weekend and Ohane for looking after me thank you I appreciate it.”
So at the end of Round 1, Pratama and Takahira leave with 45 points apiece after sharing the P1 and P2 prizes, with Mitani heading to Round 2 in Japan third in the overall standings.
ATC Sepang Race Two
Race Two Results
| Pos | Rider | Gap |
| 1 | Veda PRATAMA (INA) | — 11 laps — |
| 2 | Riichi TAKAHIRA (JPN) | +2.399 |
| 3 | Zen MITANI (JPN) | +10.181 |
| 4 | Ryota OGIWARA (JPN) | +10.219 |
| 5 | Jakkreephat PHUETTISAN (THA) | +24.250 |
| 6 | Hamad AL-SAHOUTI (QAT) | +24.320 |
| 7 | Hafizd Fahril RASYADAN (INA) | +24.731 |
| 8 | Farres PUTRA (MAL) | +24.977 |
| 9 | Farish HAFIY (MAL) | +25.047 |
| 10 | Ahmad DARWISY (MAL) | +25.626 |
| 11 | Chessy MEILANDRI (INA) | +25.903 |
| 12 | Jorge Raphael GADING (INA) | +30.128 |
| 13 | Levi RUSSO (AUS) | +30.384 |
| 14 | Burapa WANMOON (THA) | +31.518 |
| 15 | Adi PUTRA (MAL) | +42.194 |
| Not Classified | ||
| DNF | Amon ODAKI (JPN) | — 10 laps — |
| DNF | Sarthak C HAVAN (IND) | 21.171 |
| DNF | Reykat FADILAH (INA) | — 4 laps — |
| DNS | Marianos NIKOLIS (AUS) | – |
Asia Talent Cup Standings after Round One
| Pos. | Name | Nat | Total | R1 | R2 |
| 1 | Veda PRATAMA | INA | 45 | 20 | 25 |
| 2 | Riichi TAKAHIRA | JPN | 45 | 25 | 20 |
| 3 | Zen MITANI | JPN | 32 | 16 | 16 |
| 4 | Ryota OGIWARA | JPN | 23 | 10 | 13 |
| 5 | Jakkreephat PHUETTISAN | THA | 20 | 9 | 11 |
| 6 | Hamad AL-SAHOUTI | QAT | 17 | 7 | 10 |
| 7 | Farres PUTRA | MAL | 16 | 8 | 8 |
| 8 | Hafizd Fahril RASYADAN | INA | 14 | 5 | 9 |
| 9 | Amon ODAKI | JPN | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| 10 | Ahmad DARWISY | MAL | 12 | 6 | 6 |
| 11 | Reykat FADILAH | INA | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| 12 | Farish HAFIY | MAL | 11 | 4 | 7 |
| 13 | Chessy MEILANDRI | INA | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 14 | Burapa WANMOON | THA | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 15 | Jorge Raphael GADING | INA | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 16 | Levi RUSSO | AUS | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | Sarthak CHAVAN | IND | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | Adi PUTRA | MAL | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Marianos NIKOLIS | AUS | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup Calendar
| Date | Round | Event | Circuit | Nation |
| 12–13 August | Test | None | Sepang International Circuit | Malaysia |
| 18–20 August | Round 1 | MSC | Sepang International Circuit | Malaysia |
| 29 Sept – 1 Oct | Round 2 | MotoGP | Mobility Resort Motegi | Japan |
| 13–15 October | Round 3 | MotoGP | Pertamina Mandalika Circuit | Indonesia |
| 27–29 October | Round 4 | MotoGP | Chang International Circuit | Thailand |
| 10–12 November | Round 5 | MotoGP | Sepang International Circuit | Malaysia |
| 17– 9 November | Round 6 | MotoGP | Lusail International Circuit | Qata |
