Team KAGAYAMA SUZUKI Asia made its debut at the opening round of the 2015 FIM Asia Road Race Championship (ARRC) at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia at the weekend with some positive results and valuable data to take back to Japan for evaluation.
New team rider Rafid Topan, riding the #25 Suzuki GSX-R600, scored ninth and 12th-positions in his debut ride for the team in the ARRC Supersport class as team-mate Nori Haga, riding the #41 GSX-R600, was unlucky to be caught-up in two crashes and had to retire from race two after remounting in race one to finish 15th.
Rafid Topan:
“The atmosphere of the team during race week is great! The thing that impresses me the most is that the set-up improves every time we change it. I was able to finish in the top-10 and ahead my team-mate Nori Haga, which was my first target, so I am happy. In race two, the rain started to fall during the race, so that became an advantage for me, but I dropped back when the rain stopped. My only goal is win races, so I will try harder to do that. The next round is in Sentul in Indonesia, close to where I live. I know the track well, so I hope I can win the race”
Noriyuki Haga:
“I regret finishing with these results, but I know what I need on the bike and to race in this series. I was being patient in Race 1, I kept my position until the final two laps, waiting for a chance to pass, but unfortunately I was clipped by another rider that fell on the inside of me. In Race 2, rain started to fall, so I was being careful. After it stopped, I began to pick-up my pace, but my brake lever hit another rider and that resulted in a crash. I know what we need to do for the next round, so I will be looking forward to the race in Indonesia.”
Yuichi Takeda - Team Manager:
“We expected that things were not going to be easy, but considering the abilities of our riders, I have to say that the results were not quite as we hoped-for. However, we still did what we could do in our short time of preparation. Because it is the first time for both riders racing in the Supersport 600 class, we wanted more data, but it was unfortunate for Haga to have unfortunate incidents in both races. As for Topan, I think he tried the best he could in both Race 1 and Race 2. We will take the data we have back to Japan and work on it so that we can level-up by the Indonesia round.”