PETALING JAYA: Indonesian rider Mohd Adenanta Putra of Astra Honda Racing Team spoiled Malaysian Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi’s hopes of pulling off a perfect double in the MSBK 1000 category in Round 1 of the MAM Malaysia Superbike Championship at Sepang International Circuit.
Adenanta managed to overtake Zaqhwan with two laps to go to claim victory in Race 2 yesterday in 17:14.732.
The Malaysian, who started on pole, settled for third at the end of the seven-lap race in 17:16.937 as veteran rider Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman claimed second place with a time of 17:16.001.
Zaqhwan had earlier seized victory in dramatic fashion in Race 1 after a chaotic final lap.
Drama struck on the final lap when Adam Norrodin crashed at Turn 1, followed shortly by Adenanta, thus handing the advantage to Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin and Zaqhwan who were right behind.
Zaqhwan timed his move to perfection to win Race 1 in 23:56.849, just 0.071s ahead of Kasma (23:56.920) with Azlan completing the podium (23:57.574).
“Actually, in the first lap I didn’t feel confident. I was 50-50 and thought maybe I could only finish around fifth because it was hard to reach the front group.
“But in the last four laps, things got better. I caught up step by step, and I believed I could fight for the podium. I stayed patient, watched for their mistakes, and in the final lap, I took the opportunity,” said Zaqhwan on his race win.
Thai rider Thanat Laoongplio emerged victorious in Race 1 and 2 in the MSBK 600cc category.
Malaysia’s Khairul Idham Pawi had to settle for the runner-up spot in both races.
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