The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team is on track at Spain’s Motorland Aragón for the tenth WorldSSP round with riders Kaito Toba, Syarifuddin Azman and wildcard Ibrahim Norrodin. 

The three riders used the morning’s 10-minute warm-up to carry out some final checks ahead of the race. The session was unfortunately red flagged with just over two minutes to go following a crash for another rider, putting a premature end to the brief session.

The first of the weekend’s 15-lap Supersport races ran at 12.35pm local time (CET) in warm, sunny conditions. Toba got away well when the lights went out, lying twenty-third through the first turns. In a group of about four riders, Kaito worked hard to close in on those in front. Despite demonstrating similar pace to his closest rivals over the course of the race, gaps started to open up in the latter stages, which made it tough for the Japanese rider to make up positions. Gaining one place in the final laps, Toba confirmed P22 across the line. From row ten, Azman placed thirtieth in the early stages. Able to stick with the two riders immediately ahead, the Malaysian rookie put in a consistent performance over the 15 laps. Ultimately climbing four places to twenty-sixth, Syarifuddin held this position to the line. Norrodin had work to do from row eleven, but the wildcard made a clean start and focused on establishing a consistent rhythm. Running a rather solitary race after losing contact with those immediately ahead, the Malaysian didn’t give in, setting his fastest lap time on lap thirteen and completing this first race P30.

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will return to the track tomorrow for the Aragón weekend’s second and final WorldSSP race.

Kaito Toba #27

“In this morning’s warm up we confirmed the direction that we wanted to take in terms of setup. Although the session was cut short due to a red flag, it was valuable track time. In the race, my lap times were quite consistent and close to the group ahead of me. I struggled to overtake other riders, suffering particularly on the straight but I did my best and we will of course keep trying tomorrow.”

Syarifuddin Azman #63

“I felt quite good on the bike already in warm-up. We then made a change for the race and that made me a lot more confident. It was quite hard for me to pass other riders, considering also the long back straight at this track. But I tried to run a consistent race, lap after lap, and am generally pleased with how it went. Let’s see if we can do more tomorrow; I think I can take another step forward if we prepare properly.”

Ibrahim Norrodin #67

“We tried something different in morning warm-up in terms of setup but it didn’t really work and so we switched back to what we had yesterday for the race. That felt good and I tried to do my best in the race, but to catch those ahead was just not possible. I think I ran a consistent race anyway, and really just focused on my own performance. The team has worked really hard – so a big thanks to them for that - and the bike is the best it has been since I first got on it at Magny-Cours, which is great. I’ve asked my team to leave the bike as it is for Race 2, as I was happy with the setup today.”