Epis breaks through for ARRC Superbike podium at Mandalika

2024 IDEMITSU FIM Asia Road Racing Championships
Round Four – Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit, Indonesia

Asia Superbike 1000cc Race One

Lachlan Epis made a lightning start from the third row to be fourth into turn one before then moving up to third place at turn two. Yuki Kunii was off to a flying start right from the off and immediately started streaking away from the field as Hafizh Syahrin gave chase.

Nakarin Atiratphuvapat and then Andi Farid relegated Epis from third to fifth in the space of a few corners on lap two. A lap later, Soichiro Minamimoto pushed Epis further back to sixth, and it looked as though the Australian’s quest for a podium was over.

Andi Farid closed in on and then passed Hafizh Syahrin for second place as Kunii continued to enjoy a handy lead up front.

By half-race distance Epis was in sixth place but instead of losing ground, he was now starting to show an advantage over his fellow combatants.

Andi Farid reeled in Kunii as the race wore on and once past started streaking away in the lead.

Epis had a great to and fro battle with Minamimoto around the middle stage of the race before eventually breaking away.  Epis then started closing on Atiratphuvapat and Syahrin at a rapid rate of knots.

Epis was up to third place with two laps to go and swapped placed with Atiratphuvapat a number of times before the Honda ran wide which gave Epis some clear air to put his head down and start closing on Kunii, who he was catching to the tune of a second a lap!

Ultimately Epis ran out of laps to get on terms with Kunii but if the race was a lap longer the Evolution Sports Group rider would have had that second place. As it was, Epis and his team were elated with the podium result.

Andi Farid the race winner by almost two-seconds over Kunii, with Epis a couple of tenths further back in third place.

Riders stopped on the cool down lap to pay respects at the memorial for Haruki Noguchi, who lost his life while racing in the ARRC at the circuit less than 12 months ago.

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Lachlan Epis – P3

“Amazing. You know I’ve spent four or five years on a Superbike and finally everything is starting to click. The team has done such an incredible job. Yeah, that race starting from seventh, you know it’s close but I was able to attack when I needed to.  Obviously, I want to pay respect to Haruki, it’s been a year now we all miss him at the circuit, so respect to him as well, and want to keep the energy low for that, but I am very happy with that result. Looking forward to going again tomorrow.”

Asia Superbike 1000 cc Race One Results

1. Andi Farid Izdihar – Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Astemo (20’56:409s)
2. Yuki Kunii – SDG Team HARC-PRO Honda Ph. (20’58:305s)
3. Lachlan Epis – Evolution Sports Group (20’58:758s)
4. Soichiro Minamimoto – YAMAHA TEKHNE Racing Team ASIA (21’01:627s)
5. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat – Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Astemo (21’02:468s)
6. Sho Nishimura – TKKR BMW Racing Team (21:02.940)
7. Hazifh Syrahrin Abdullah – JDT Racing Team (21:03.309)
8. Md. Zaqhwan Bin Zaidi – Honda Asia Dream Racing with Astemo (21:03.740)
9. Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin – Yamaha Tekhne Racing Team Asia (21:03.945)
10. Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman – TKRR BMW Racing Team (21:25.944)
11. Osama Mareai – Victor Racing Team (22:09.089)
12. Eric Saputra*** – Yamaha Cargloss RRS (21:14.922)
13. Teo Yew Joe – Savotar ESG Team Asia (21:15.843)

Asia Superbike 1000cc Race Two

Conditions were much cooler on Sunday, 36-degrees, almost 20-degrees cooler than competitors and their Dunlop tyres had faced on Saturday. Lachlan Epis once again threaded the Evolution Sports Group BMW M 1000 RR from seventh on the grid to be third into turn one with the inside line. Yuki Kunii was into the early lead ahead of Soichiro Minamimoto.

Epis had the Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Astemo pairing of Andi Farid Izdihar and Md Zaqhwan Zaidi right on his tail and the trio swapped places numerous times across the opening laps.

Soichiro Minamimoto got the better of Yuki Kunii on lap two but Kunii was back through to the lead with nine-laps to run.

Unlike Saturday, the front runners didn’t split into two groups, with less than two-seconds covering the top nine with eight laps to go. Yuki Kunii then made a couple of mistakes which allowed Andi Farid Izdihar to steal second place.  Nakarin Atiratphuvapat then crashed out of fifth place.

Meanwhile Hafizh Syahrin had been working his way through the pack on the JDT Ducati and by half-race distance was up to second place and chasing Soichiro Minamimoto for the lead. Andi Farid Izdihar was third and Lachlan Epis had moved back up to fourth.  Kunii had drifted all the way back to eighth and had now lost touch with the leading group.

Soichiro Minamimoto fended off the advances of Syahrin before eventually pulling away to a clear 2.4-second victory after Syahrin’s pace was stunted by an errant backmarker. The victory for the Japanese 24-year-old was Minamimoto’s first in the Superbike class.

Syahrin was scathing in his podium interview in regards to the lack of blue flags, and having to race with riders that were five-seconds a lap slower. In fact, in last and 12th place, Teo Yew Joe’s fastest lap was almost nine-seconds slower than the leading riders.

Andi Farid Izdihar finished quite strongly and rounded out the podium.

By the end of the race that trio had managed to break away from the pursuing pack. Md Zaqhwan Zaidi took fourth ahead of Sho Nishimura and Lachlan Epis.

Hafizh Syahrin had gone into the Indonesian round with a ten-point advantage in the championship chase but will head to Sepang in mid-September six-points behind new leader Andi Farid Izdihar. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat and Yuki Kunii are equal third on points. Lachlan Epis is currently eighth in the championship standings.

Lachlan Epis – P6

“Overall I’m pumped with the weekend, our first podium here in ARRC and then backed it up with another strong ride today. We have a little bit of homework left to do to truly close the gap but we’ve made massive steps this weekend and shown that we are capable of podiums and soon wins also. A huge massive enormous thank you to every member of ESG, my guys have been behind me through a lot and it’s nice to finally break through and reward all there sacrifices. As always in sport you’re only as good as your last result so we will celebrate tonight and then shift focus to round 5 in Malaysia in September.”

Asia Superbike 1000 cc Race Two Results

1. Soichiro Minamimoto – YAMAHA TEKHNE Racing Team ASIA (20’55:484s)
2. Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah – JDT RACING TEAM (20’57:923s)
3. Andi Farid Izdihar – Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Astemo (20’58:878s)
4. Md Zaqhwan Zaidi – Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Astemo (21’01:168s)
5. Sho Nishimura – TKKR BMW Racing Team (21’01:266s)
6. Lachlan Epis – Evolution Sports Group (21:01.496)
7. Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin – Yamaha TEKHNE Racing Team Asia (21:03.859)
8. Yuki Kunii – SDG Team HARC-PRO Honda Ph. (21:20.767)
9. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat – Honda Asia-Dream Racing with Astemo (21:58.591)
10. Osama Mareai – Victor Racing Team (22:17.961)
11. Eric Saptura – Yamaha Cargloss RRS (21:05.282)
12. Teo Yew Joe – Savitar ESG Team Asia (21:36.050)

Asia Superbike 1000 cc Standings

SuperSports 600 cc Race One Results

1. Azroy Hakeem Anuar – MAS – 19’48:985s
2. Mohammad Adenanta Putra – MAS +2.881
3. Muhammad Helmi Azman – INA +3.183
4. Veda Ega Pratama – INA +3.249
5. Rheza Danica Ahrens – INA +3.256
6. Kiattisak Singapong – THA +4.135
7. Apiwath Wongthananon – THA +4.491
8. Thanat Laoongplio – THA +8.124
9. Wahyu Mugroho – INA +12.227
10. Fadillah Arbi Aditama – INA +14.019
11. Kengo Nagao – JPN +15.047
12. McKinley Kyle Paz – PHI +30.455
13. Sha Juntong – CHN +53.684

SuperSports 600 cc Race Two Results

1. Mohammad Adenanta Putra – ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM (19’48:434s)
2. Veda Ega Pratama – ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM (19’48:874s)
3. Kiattisak Singhapong – Honda Racing Thailand (19’50:031s)
4. Fadillah Arbi Aditama – ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM (19’51:065s)
5. Rheza Danica Ahrens – ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM (19’51:351s)
6. WAHYU NUGROHO – YAMAHA Racing Indonesia (19:54.557)
7. MCKINLEY KYLE PAZ – YAMAHA TEKHNE Racing Team ASIA (19:54.669)
8. **KENGO NAGAO – YAMAHA Racing Indonesia (19:54.896)
9. AZROY HAKEEM ANUAR – IDEMITSU Boon Siew Honda Racing Team (19:57.432)
10.  THANAT LAOONGPLIO – Honda Racing Thailand (20:05.524)
11. SHA JUNTONG – VICTOR RACING Team (20:33.934)

SuperSports 600 cc Standings

Asia Production 250 cc Race One –  Top 5

1. Reynaldo C. Ratukore – YAMAHA YAMALUBE RRS (18’05:640s)
2. Cao Viet Nam – Honda Racing Vietnam Team (18’06:292s)
3. Muhammad Faerozi Toreqottullah – YAMAHA Racing Indonesia (18’07:039s)
4. Arai Agaska Dibani Laksana – YAMAHA Racing Indonesia (18’07:125s)
5. Candra Hermawan – YAMAHA Racing Indonesia (18’07:309s)

Asia Production 250 cc Race Two – Top 5

1. Muhammad Faerozi Toreqotullah – YAMAHA Racing Indonesia (18’00:806s)
2. Muhammad Kiandra Ramadhipa – ASTRA HONDA RACING TEAM (18’00:888s)
3. Arai Agaska Dibani Laksana – YAMAHA Racing Indonesia (18’00:994s)
4. Reynaldo C. Ratukore – YAMAHA YAMALUBE RRS (18’01:310s)
5. Irfan Irdiansyah – SCK HONDA Racing Team (18’01:444s)

Asia Production 250 cc Standings

Underbone 150 cc Race One – Top 5

1. Fahmi Basam – YAMAHA LFN HP969 INDONESIA Racing Team (15’38:283s)
2. Md Akid Aziz – PitsBike OneWay JRT Tech2 Racing Team (15’38:356s)
3. Riky Ibrahim – YAMAHA LFN HP969 INDONESIA Racing Team (15’38:642s)
4. Adytya Fauzi – RACETECH SIXTY Racing Team (15’38:669s)
5. Gupita Kresna Wardhna – 4S1M Evo YAMAHA Racing Team (15’38:797s)

Underbone 150 cc Race Two – Top 5

1. Md Akid Aziz – PitsBike OneWay JRT Tech2 Racing Team (15’36:473s)
2. Husni Zainul Fuadzy – YAMAHA LFN HP969 INDONESIA Racing Team (15’36:488s)
3. M. Murobbil Vittoni – YAMAHA LFN HP969 INDONESIA Racing Team (15’36:662s)
4. Adytya Fauzi – RACETECH SIXTY Racing Team (15’36:730s)
5. John Emerson Inguito – 4S1M EVO YAMAHA Racing Team (15’36:748s)

Underbone 150 cc Standings – Top 25

TVS Asia One Make Championship Race One – Top 5

1. Hiroki Ono – Japan (13’53:660s)
2. Mohd Ramdan Rosli – Malaysia (13’54:064s)
3. Sarthak Chavan – India (13’54:305s)
4. Chiranth Vishwanath – India (13’54:533s)
5. Riichi Takahira – Japan (13’54:609s)

TVS Asia One Make Championship Race Two – Top 5

1. Mohd Ramdan Rosli – Malaysia (14’11:500s)
2. Hiroki Ono – Japan (14’11:592s)
3. Sarthak Chavan – India (14’11:752s)
4. Riichi Takahira – Japan (14’11:894s)
5. Vorapong Malahuan – Thailand (14’11:993s)

TVS Asia One Make Championship Standings