New circuit Balaton Park staged its first WorldSSP race on Saturday, as the eighth Supersport World Championship round continues at the Hungarian track. The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team was back on track with riders Kaito Toba and Syarifuddin Azman, who started the day with a short warm-up session. Finding a little extra during this final preparatory phase, the riders felt ready as they headed into the weekend’s first race.

WorldSSP Race 1 ran mid-afternoon, with Toba lining up in fourteenth place on the grid, Azman twenty-sixth. Lying eighteenth through the first turns, Kaito pushed to establish a strong pace that would allow him to make his way up the field. Up into the points zone by lap three, the Japanese rider was hungry for more, working hard to bank as many points as possible at this seemingly favourable track. A final push over the last few laps saw Toba progress to thirteenth, but a crash on lap sixteen unfortunately prevented him from completing the race, denying him a likely points finish.

Rookie Syarifuddin was part of a big group of riders, lying twenty-fifth early on in the race. Making gradual progress as his confidence grew, the young Malaysian was able to hold his own in this tightly packed field. Defending twenty-fourth for the best part of the 18-lap race, Azman did well to gain three more positions in the final stages to close twenty-first.

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will now reset and prepare for Sunday’s second 18-lap race, with both riders confident they can put in a strong performance and round out the weekend on a high note.

Kaito Toba #27

“We used this morning’s warm up to make a change in an attempt to reduce some vibration we have at the front of the bike, but we ended up ruling out that option. I started from fourteenth on the grid and was cautious through the first few turns. Soon enough I settled in the group at the back of the top 10, inside the points zone. I kept my head down and pushed lap by lap, maintaining consistent pace. But with just a couple of laps to go, I crashed, which unfortunately put an end to my race. It’s a shame because we could have brought some points home. I’ll keep my head down and try again tomorrow.”

Syarifuddin Azman #63

"During warm-up I didn’t have good feeling with the bike so we went back to the Superpole set-up, which allowed me to feel more comfortable during the race. The only thing was that I made a mistake on the opening lap. I tried to recover over the first laps, and struggled a bit, but was then able to push until the end. I’m pleased to finish P21 today and will try to do more tomorrow; thanks to the team for all their hard work.”