18 Mar 2017 Tianshi Kawasaki Team dominates the podium (ZIC Superbike Race 600cc Race)

At 12:20 on 18 March 2017, the first day of Pan Delta Super Racing Festival Spring Race, ZIC Superbike 600cc Race officially begins. There are 29 riders entered for this race, including the Macanese veterans Ouyang Hao and Ouyang Fu. 2016 All Japan JP250 champion Ayumu Tanaka also joined the fray.

According to yesterday’s qualifying result, #99 Ouyang Fu’s Kawasaki ZX6R is on pole position after setting a 1:40.391. Hu Zhao-Neng and Ouyang Hao, riding identical Kawasaki ZX6Rs, are second and third. The sky has become gloomy just before the start of the race. The race is only 8 laps long but whether rain will fall during the race is unpredictable. For teams and riders, strategy must be clearly thought through.

The start was very smooth, fourth place starter #82 Ayumu Tanaka passes Hu Zhao-Neng and Ouyang Hao for second place at the end of the first lap on the main straight. On lap 3, Ouyang Fu extends his lead to 2 seconds by setting a fastest lap of 1:42.512. As the race enters lap 4, the order remains unchanged. Ouyang Fu sets another fastest lap 1:41.132. Hu Zhao-Neng overtakes Ayumu Tanaka for second place on lap 5. Ouyang Fu continues to lead and sets another fastest lap 1:40.842 and moves 6 seconds ahead. If there are no incidents, Ouyang Fu should win. On lap 7, Ayumu Tanaka of Japan is passed by Ouyang Hao for fourth. The last two laps will see how the top  3 will turn out.

On the last lap, Ayumu Tanaka is 0.384 second behind Ouyang Hao, looking for a last chance to take third place. But Ouyang Hao is able to defend his position and does not give Tanaka any chance. At the flag, the top 3 are #99 Ouyang Fu, #15 Hu Zhao-Neng and #3 Ouyang Hao. Ayumu Tanaka fails to finish in the top 3 by a mere 0.2 second.

After the race, Ouyang Fu said his race was very smooth since he led from the beginning. At T7 there was some oil which affected him slightly. But overall it was very straight forward. He is particularly glad to complete the 1-2 with his brother Ouyang Hao. The oldest rider in the field, 46 years old Hu Shu-Shen said because of the ferocity of the race, he felt exhausted by lap 5, but he really enjoyed the race since he exceeded himself once more. #17 Foshan rider Lin Zhi-Fei said he was happy and excited to race alongside so many good riders and he looks forward to racing again soon.