20 Jun 2010 ZIC Superbike Race 2: 16 year-old Malaysian breakthrough

At 1:30pm on 20th June 2010, just three hours after the conclusion of race 1, ZIC Superbikes are back on the track for race 2. The hot sun and heat wave now add to the riders' challenge. They can be sure that they will lose a lot of fluids and have to spend a lot of energy. How the riders spent their three hour break will play a part in this race.

According to their morning qualifying results, no. 26 Li Zheng-Peng starts on pole position, no. 57 Du Bang and no. 125 David Sadowski are alongside him. For bike races, pole position is more a matter of honour than real substance, as overtaking is more easy compared to cars.

The red lights go out and the race begins, the green machine belonging to no. 57 Du Bang from Shandong province goes into the lead. At the end of the lap, he is still ahead of no. 55 Hafizh from Malaysia. The gap between them is 1.4 seconds. No. 26 Li Zheng-Peng is in third place with no. 62 Kwan Ying-Ho and no. 125 David Sadowski behind him.

On lap 3, no. 26 Li Zheng-Peng closes to 0.3 second behind no. 55 Hafizh. At turn 9, they are almost nose-to-tail. Soon, no. 26 Li Zheng-Peng takes to the inside and outbrakes his rival for the position. After this move Li Zheng-Peng catches up on no. 57 Du Bang. At the last corner, Li Zheng-Peng uses his superior speed exiting corners to overtake Du Bang on the straight. At turn 1, Du Bang is already 30 metres behind.

Du Bang is still under pressure from no. 55 Hafizh. There is only 0.5 second between them. On lap 6, no. 55 Hafizh passes Du Bang. Once passed, Hafizh begins to show exceptional speed and closes in on leader, no. 26 Li Zheng-Peng. Li Zheng-Peng does not seem to notice Hafizh's sudden appearance and is almost overtaken. But he soon regroups himself and begins to speed up. But Hafizh keeps pace and follows him around for two laps. Both riders are determined to win this race.

On lap 9, between turns 3 and 4, no. 55 Hafizh makes a final push and passes no. 26 Li Zheng-Peng at the corner sequence. Li Zheng-Peng tries to take the lead back but unfortunately the race is at its end. In the end, the 16 year-old Hafizh wins by 0.19 second, no. 26 Li Zheng Peng finishes second with no. 62 Kwan Ying-Ho in third place.