15 Oct 2011 2011 ARRC SS600cc second qualifying: Fujiwara closes-in on title with pole

Katsuaki Fujiwara closes in on the SuperSports 600cc title wrap-up as he successfully secured another pole position during the second qualifying, in the fifth round of the PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) at the Zhuhai International Circuit, China today.

Fujiwara confirmed his right for a head start having improved yesterday's lap time of 1:39.658s and replaced it with 1:38.195s just five laps into the session. Together to start the race with the 37-year old from front row would be Malaysians, Mohd Zamri Baba (PETRONAS Yamaha Malaysia) and Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (PETRONAS Syntium Moto Yamaha Raceline) who both came in second and third fastest today with 1:38.350s and 1:38.477s.

Pleased to be on top of the timesheets, the Japanese national intends to make full use of his pole position to go all out for the race tomorrow and defend his lead in the overall standings from closest contender, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Boon Siew Honda Racing Malaysia) who is only 37 points adrift.

"Our outing today was not easy because we faced some issues with the shifter. Fortunately the team engineers were able to rectify the problem without losing too much time. In addition to that, it was hard to focus because a lot of riders crashed today. But in the end, everything went according to plan so I'm very happy," said Fujiwara.

The former World Supersports Champion went on to add about his expectations for the race, "Maybe I can drop my lap time further during the race but that is no longer of any concern. Right now the priority is to defend my lead in the overall standings so I will try to have a smooth start and make a break from the group. Of course, my target is to always win but I have a strong feeling it won't be easy because this circuit is very new to me. Nevertheless, I feel confident!" he said.

Today's top three riders however weren't the only ones who improved today. In fact the whole SuperSports 600cc field managed to shave off a few seconds of yesterday's lap time.


Starting from second row would be Chalermpol Polamai (Yamaha Thailand Racing), M.Fadli and Yuki Ito (TeamJP DogFIGHTR Yamaha) followed by Ahmad Fuad Baharudin (Bike A.R.T Kawasaki Racing), Decha Kraisat and Azlan on third.

The grid is completed with Doni Tata Pradita (Yamaha Indonesia Racing), Yusuke Teshima (Team Suzuki Pilipinas), Makoto Inagaki (Moto-Rev India) on fourth row, Yuji Sato, Dimas Ekky Pratama, Cru Halliday (Yamaha Yamalube ASH TJM KYT) on fifth, Mohd Emir Firdaus Hasan, M.Dwi Satria, Krishnan Rajini on sixth, Christan Casella, Toshiyuki Hamaguchi and Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi on seventh while Mohd Hafieenaz Mohd Ali takes eighth.