25 May 2016 Mark remains unbeaten; Zhang Wei-An starts from the back

At 1:00 in the afternoon on 19 March, Pan Delta Super Racing Festival Superbike 1000cc race is on. According to yesterdays qualifying results, Mark Aitchison is on pole position with a best time of 1:34.332. Joshua Waters is second with 1:34.810. Also in class A, Huang Shi-Zhao is third on the grid with a 1:37.064. With the big gap in performance it seems Huang Shi-Zhao will be facing an uphill battle. Returning veteran Zhang Wei-An and reigning champion Li Zheng-Peng both set 1:38 laps. It looks like a battle for these two riders.

Mark makes a good start and the bikes behind him follow into the corner. Huang Shi-Zhao has a problem but he can still follow the two leaders. After a lap, a lead group is formed by the trio, but Huang is dropping back. Two laps later and the gap grows to 2 seconds. Zhang Wei-An had a problem at the start and had to start from the pit lane. He shows good speed and by lap 3 he is behind Hu Zhao-Neng in 6th position. The battle for 5th delays both riders, allowing 4th placed Li Zheng-Peng to get away.

Mark manages the fastest lap of the race with a 1:34.522. Joshua Waters is second fastest with a 1:36.166 while Huang Shi-Zhao could only do 1:38.991. On the penultimate lap, one of the bikes runs off track and retires from the race. On the last lap, Zhang Wei-An finally manges to pas Hu Zhao-Neng and catches Li Zheng-Peng. He tries to pass at turn 1 to no avail. At the chequered flag, Mark Aitchison takes the win, Joshua Waters finishes second, Huang Shi-Zhao is third. In class B Li Zheng-Peng wins with Zhang Wei-An second and Mohd Radzi bin Yusof third.

After the race, Mark said,"This was not our best race. We are still trying to improve the bike and bring it up to another level. We had wanted to do some winter testing but we couldn't arrange it. I think the Yamaha riders will improve, they are a very good team, once they find their direction they will catch up."

Huang Shi-Zhao is satisfied with today's race, although there was a small gap, it is possible to close it. "Mark has race in many big international races and is very experienced compared with us. They have been training since young under a comprehensive system. We cannot compare with him. Today I changed the bikes suspension and I am still not used to this setting. Today my main concern is with the setup and I hope to reach my ideal form soon. Overall I am satisfied. Once we complete the setup we should get a better result tomorrow."

Important information

A. Top 3 finishers of each class

 

Class
Pos
No.
Rider
 
OPEN A
 
1
116
Mark Aitchison
2
12
Joshua Waters
3
9
Huang Shi-Zhao
 
OPEN B
1
26
Li Zheng-Peng
2
92
Zhang Wei-An
3
90
Mohd Radzi bin Yusof

 

Please visit www.zic.com.cn for detailed results.
 
B. Race control reports

 

Time
Details
12:55
#90, #92 starts from pit lane
13:14
#13 enters the pits from T11 pit entry.
13:14
#71 runs into sand trap at T11, towed away.