Atiratphuvapat wins crazy second race in Sepang
The Thai rider leads the podium ahead of Kunimine and Rostam in a race with multiple falls and a red flag.
Nakarim Atiratphuvapat was the winner of the second race of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup held today at the Sepang International Circuit. The Thai rider crossed the line ahead of Japan’s Kunimine and local Malaysian rider Rostam, the three filling the podium.
The race was eventful and interrupted by a red flag. In the first part of the race, a large group of 15 riders were split by just three seconds, led by Masaki the Japanese rider until the seventh lap. Pengyuan Chen, the Chinese rider, suffered a hard fall exciting the final corner resulting in the red flag being displayed.
A restarted race of just five laps saw many of the riders overly ambitious and multiple fell at the first corner, ending the aspirations of many pilots who had been strong throughout the weekend such as Ogura and Norrodin. The race was a frantic sprint with Sasaki (winner of race one) and Masaki out at the front followed closely by Atiratphuvapat and Kunimine.
With nothing between them the leading four all went into the last corner of Sepang parallel. Braking on the limit, Sasaki lost the front end and went into the ground right in front of Masaki, who also fell. The drama in front greatly benefitted the spectators behind, especially Atiratphuvapat as he saw the door open to his second win of the season, his first coming in Chang. He is now second in the championship, just 19 points behind Sasaki.
Director of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup Alberto Puig: “A lot of crashes today. To stop the race and to restart, to change the rhythm, is not so easy. A 5 laps race is very short, everybody is going out, pushing and normally people take more risks. I cannot be very happy because some riders god injured but these things can happen.”
The next race of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup will take place from the 18th to 20th of September in China’s Zhuhai circuit.
Until the 15th of August registration remains open for the selection of riders in the 2016 edition of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup. Applicants may submit their request by clicking here.
