26 Sep 2015 ZIC Superbike Race 1: Yamaha duo s demonstration run
On Saturday 19 September 2015, the highly anticipated Pan Delta ZIC Superbike race commences their first race of the weekend, the fifth race of the season at 2:00pm. This is the final weekend of the season and in class 1, Li Zheng-Peng has 80 points, Huang Shi-Zhao has 61 and Mark Aitchison is on 50. With the winner of each race taking 25 points, second place 20 points and third place 16 points, all three of the riders have a chance of winning the overall title. Li Zheng-Peng has an advantage on points but Mark Aitchison has superior speed. He is only behind on points because he did not participate in the Spring race. If Mark wins both races and Li Zheng-Peng fails to finish in the top 3, then Mark could snatch it.
Mark is on pole position with a stunning 1:33.725 lap in qualifying. Li Zheng-Peng is second with 1:36.031. Huang Shi-Zhao is slightly behind his team mate in third place. Other Pan Delta regulars like Cheung Wai-On, Simon Kwan, Hu Zhao-Neng are on row 2.
The strong mid-day sun means the riders will have to endure a hot race, a tough test on the riders fitnesses. Most of the riders make good starts and Mark Aitchison is in the lead. Behind him Huang Shi-Zhao overtakes Li Zheng-Peng for second place. Li Zheng-Peng is one of those that has not got away cleanly and he is swallowed up by the field.
On lap 3, Mark Aitchison extends his lead over Huang Shi-Zhao to about 4 seconds, while Li Zheng-Peng continues to make up ground and is now less than a second behind Huang. The two Yamaha R1 motorbikes begins to battle. Both riders are familiar with each other and the circuit and it will be fascinating to see who comes out on top.
On lap 4, Mark Aitchison is already lapping backmarkers. Huang Shi-Zhao and Li Zheng-Peng manages to close the gap to him a little. Li Zheng-Peng has been unable to find a way past Huang. Maybe an opportunity will arise when they come across a backmarker.
On lap 5, more and more backmarkers get in their ways and Li Zheng-Peng indeed uses
one of the opportunities to overtake Huang. But Huang is not a rider who gives up easily. On lap 6 at turn 10, the two Yamahas enter the corner almost simutaneously. At turn 14, Li Zheng-Peng uses the advantage of being on the inside to overtake Huang again. But their fight is not over, Huang continues to hunt Li and the two Yamahas become the main attraction in the race.
On lap 8, Li Zheng-Peng overtakes a backmarker at turn 3 while Huang is delayed and cannot overtake until the next turn, giving Li some breathing space. But that is not to last as Huang catches back up and overtakes Li in the next backmarker situation. He also manages to stay ahead until the end, marking this the first time he has beaten his younger teammate this year. Mark Aitchison wins the race in front with ease, with a convincing 23 seconds lead over Huang.
Mark Aitchison said after the race, "I made a good start and the bike is in very good form, allowing me to reach very good speeds. But my clutch had a problem near the end and it totally overheated."
Huang Shi-Zhao said, "Mark is a very strong rival. His joining the race is a big help to us raising our standards. We learn a lot following him. We will have to practice what we have learned, but not in the race situation. After more practices I believe our lap times will improve. We don't practice or race much. Our fitness and practices are not good enough. We can only make adjustments to our bikes and try to improve during the Pan Delta races. I am happy to finish second today, the race suit is still too tight and it affects me, but I just have to deal with it."
Li Zheng-Peng said, "I made a bad start and lost many positions. I only got back to the front after 4 or 5 laps. Then I had to battle my teammate Huang Shi-Zhao. He was very fast today. Since I have a points advantage I did not fight too hard for second place. Overall, I am quite happy with today's race."
A.ZIC Superbike Race 1 Top 3 finishers
|
Class |
Pos |
No. |
Rider |
|
CL1 |
1 |
116 |
Mark Aitchison |
|
2 |
9 |
Huang Shi-Zhao |
|
|
3 |
26 |
Li Zheng-Peng |
|
|
CL2 |
1 |
2 |
Yuan Ji-Bo |
|
2 |
21 |
Ma Sai |
|
|
3 |
23 |
Deng Yuan-Hong |
|
|
CL3 |
1 |
8 |
Huang Zhi-Yu |
|
2 |
99 |
Ouyang Fu |
|
|
3 |
24 |
Liu Chuang |