15 Oct 2011 2011 ARRC Underbone 115cc second qualifying: Kresna takes a grip on pole

Gupita Kresna ousted the field in the second Underbone 115cc qualifying practice to grab pole position in fifth leg of the PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) at the Zhuhai International Circuit, China, today.

Marking his first pole since his debut in the Championship, the Kawasaki NHK Rextor Manual Tech representative was the only rider to hit the 2:10s mark with 2:10.851s. Joining him on front row are Malaysians, Mohd Affendi Rosli (Harian Metro Y-TEQ SCK Honda Racing) and Zaidy Mohd Zaifaizal (Motul Yamaha YY Pang) who were second and third fastest today with 2:11.096s and 2:11.357s respectively.

"Everything went smoothly today. At first I did not expect to get pole position seeing that the weather was warm and dry compared to yesterday's wet outing and normally rivals would be fast under these conditions. But the people in Kawasaki NHK Rextor Manual Tech did a good job setting up my Kawasaki and it helped me secure my first Underbone 115cc pole," said an elated Gupita.

The Indonesian rider went on to talk about his hopes for tomorrow, "It's hard to say what the outcome will be, what's more it is expected to rain tomorrow. Regardless, I'm certain the race will be tough and I will do my very best just like in the qualifyings. Hopefully I can transform this pole into a win and make my country proud," he said.

Meanwhile, to take second second row would be Mohd Iskandar Raduan (PETRONAS Syntium Moto Yamaha AHM) who finished the second qualifying fourth fastest with 2:11.768s followed by Hadi Wijaya (Kawasaki NHK Rextor Manual Tech) with 2:11.930s and Friday's fastest rider, Mohd Ramdan Mohd Rosli with 2:12.076s.

The rest of the grid is made of Prawat Yannawut (Yamaha Thailand Racing), Norizman Ismail, Ahmad Afif Amran (Yamaha CKJ TJM Racing) on third row, Denny Triyugo (Yamaha Yamalube FDR KYT), Mohd Rozaiman Mohd Said, Sudarmono on fourth and Rafid Topan, Jirawut Ratsamee and Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa (Pachie Yuzy Honda Racing) fifth.