12 Dec 2011 2011 ZIC Superbike 3 Hours Endurance Race: BG Performance wins comfortably

2011 ZIC Superbike 3 Hours Endurance Race is flagged off at 9am on 11 December. A total of 12 teams and 33 riders have entered the race.

The race is run to slightly different rules to the Circuit Hero 500 km race. 1. The race is limited to 3 hours and the time limit will not be affected by any safety car periods or adverse weather. The teams will have to be more flexible in their pit strategies. 2. When a rider finish a stint, both rider and bike can be changed. Whether this aspect is positive or negative will need to be seen.

The race is divided into class 1 and class 2. Class 1 is for bikes of 600cc or above. Class 2 is for bikes 600cc or below.

At the race start, the sky is clear but temperature is low, only about 12 degrees C. In the early stages, BG Performance's no. 71 bike and Yes! Yamaha Tianjian Racing's no. 1 bike begin a fierce battle, for an hour or so, the two bikes are only about 2 seconds apart.

But one of the no. 1 bikes develops a mechanical problem and cannot continue, meaning that Yes! Yamaha Tianjian Racing can only continue with one machine. Unfortunately the remaining machine also has a gearbox problem. The good thing is that the second placed bike in class 2 is more than 4 laps behind and the team still has a good chance of winning its class.

In the end, BG Performance's Dan Kruger and Alan Vilches Alejes win by completing 103 laps in 3 hours to win class 1. Team J. P.'s Yuji Okabayashi/Mikiya Kimura/Guan Ying-Hao takes second place by completing 99 laps. Yes! Yamaha Tianjian Racing's Huang Shi-Zhao and Xiao Jin takes the win in class 2 with 99 completed laps.

Dan Kruger and Alan Viches Alejes state after the race that everything went smoothly for them, their Kawasaki bikes were very consistent and very reliable and BG's race strategy went according to plan. Alejes is here racing for the first time and he found everything was done very professionally and looks forward to racing here again.

Class 2 winners Huang Shi-Zhao said their team's two bikes, one had an engine problem and the other had a gearbox problem. They had to ride the last hour of the race with the use of only one gear. They are very glad they still managed to win their class.

Offical Race Results: