MOTO–REV INDIA scores big at Sentul. MOTO–REV's Hamaguchi finishes in 3rd place in Round 2 of 2011 FIM ARRC

Chennai based team Moto–Rev India, participating at the Asian GP (Asian Road Racing Championship) grabbed podium at Sentul, Indonesia.The team which has orchestrated a massive racing program that started in 2010 creating a platform for Indian Motorcycle Racing talent throughout Asia was forced for the first time, not to field its Indian Racers Krishnan Rajini and Gautham Mayilvagnan due to financial crunch. This led to MOTO–REV India fielding only one rider with Toshiyuki Hamaguchi in the Round 2 of 2011 FIM ARRC at Sentul, Indonesia.

Says Abishek Raju, Director, MOTO–REV India, "Having only one Racer in Toshiyuki Hamaguchi (Hammer) on track meant that it was all or nothing for the team. Stringing together a non–stop 48 hour effort in the pits our team of engineers and technicians have managed to nail a very good set–up. The conditions in Indonesia are very dynamic considering the weather can change in seconds which means we need to always have at least 3 race strategies ready."

Despite managing to qualify only 7th, Hammer rode a storming race; locked in a 3–way battle for the race lead that saw him eventually finishing 3rd on the podium.

Race 1 was an absolute scorcher with World Super Sport rider Fujiwara (JPN), 2009 ARRC champion Azlan (MAS) and MOTO–REV's 6–time ARRC champion Hamaguchi chasing each other lap after lap exchanging places for 1, 2 & 3 positions. Fujiwara coming off a double race win at Round 1 in Malaysia lead the race for the first 8 laps but Hammer (MOTO–REV INDIA) began to hunt him down even managing to go past him a couple of times. Fujiwara (FACTORY KAWASAKI TEAM) riding a KAWASAKI ZX–6R however, had the fastest bike of the three with AZLAN SHAH (BOONS VIEW HONDA) on a HONDA CBR600RR and Hammer (MOTO–REV INDIA) on a YAMAHA YZF–R6.The KAWASAKI ZX–6R is a newly developed machine for 2011 and has a clear advantage on the main straight being at least 5–6 KMPH faster than the Yamaha R6, Honda CBR600RR and the SUZUKI GSX–R600.

Despite this power deficit Hammer was constantly keeping up with Fujiwara thanks to a very good race set–up on the motorcycle and vintage aggressive racing from him. Going into the last lap Fujiwara was just 0.2 seconds ahead of Hammer with Azlan 0.3 seconds behind him. The 5000 strong crowd at the Sentul International Circuit Grand Stand was on its feet with hands gesturing to each other as the drama on the track was building up until the last corner where trying a move on Fujiwara, Hammer (MOTO–REV INDIA) ran slightly wide allowing Azlan to lose 2nd place to him. Fujiwara finished 1st for the 3rd consecutive time this year, Azlan on 2nd and Hammer on 3rd.

Race 2 turned out to be a disaster for Hamaguchi as he had a crash after running wide at turn 4 on Lap 4 and consequently DNF.

FULL RACE 1 RESULTS:

1.Fujiwara (JPN), 24:39.410s 2.Azlan Shah (MAS), 24:39.742s 3.Hamaguchi (JPN) (MOTO–REV INDIA), 24:40.161s 4.M. Fadli (INA), 24:40.756s 5.Doni Tata (INA), 24:46.524s 6.Aaron Morris (AUS), 24:47.773s 7.Zamri Baba (MAS) 8.M.Dwi S...atria (INA) 9.Michael (AUS) 10.Fuad (MAS) 11.Hafizh (MAS) 12.Shu Sato (JPN) 13.Ahmad Zamani (MAS) 14.Suhadi (MAS) 15.Cru Halliday (AUS) 16.Emir(MAS) 17.Hafienaz (MAS) 18.Iskandar (MAS) 19.Ahmad Saugi (INA) 20.Toshima (JPN)

The next round of the FIM ARRC comes to India for Round 3 of the championship at the Madras Motor Sports Race Track on August 4th.