New circuit Balaton next up for WorldSSP riders Toba and Azman

SSP Preview
Also available in: Japanese

PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders Kaito and Syarifuddin travel to Hungary for round 8.

New circuit Balaton next up for WorldSSP riders Toba and Azman

The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team is ready for a new challenge, in the shape of the Balaton Park circuit in Hungary, which will host round eight of the Supersport World Championship this coming weekend.

Riders Kaito Toba and Syarifuddin Azman are excited to get started on Friday as they set out to build on recent performances. While rookie Azman has not yet seen the Hungarian circuit, Toba was able to make some laps of the track during a test session in June. Following on from that test, Kaito was on track less than two weeks ago for the UK round at Donington, a race weekend in which he worked hard with his team and made good progress. Forced to start from the back of the grid in Race 1, the gutsy Japanese rider did well to climb as high as final sixteenth position. Syarifuddin rejoins the team for the Hungarian round and is keen to pick up where he left off at Misano, working to build his confidence and feeling with the CBR600RR in what is the Malaysian’s rookie WorldSSP season.

A new facility, the Balaton Park Circuit will pose a fresh challenge for the best part of the WorldSSP field, although a few riders did have a brief opportunity to test at the track last month, Toba included. Inaugurated in May 2023, the circuit’s first international event will be the upcoming WorldSBK round. The track, measuring 4.075 km in length, consists of 16 corners, with six right turns and ten left turns. The circuit's facilities include 48 pit garages, VIP areas and lounges, a media centre, medical centre, and two additional support paddock areas.

Kaito Toba #27

“We had the chance to go out on track at Balaton Park some weeks ago. The main focus there was to learn the track and get some preliminary ideas for the setting. It’s a rather small track, but it should be fun for Supersport races. The plan is to start where we left off from the test, and to build on that over the sessions we have available. As always, I’ll do my best to put in some progress over the weekend.”

Syarifuddin Azman #63

“Now we head to Balaton, another track I’ve never seen, but at least in this case there are other riders who’ve not ridden there either, so the playing field may a little more level. I’ve heard different things about this new circuit, so I’m interested to check it out for myself. Let’s see how we go when we get started on Friday.”

 

Track information:

Country: Hungary
Name: Balaton Park Circuit
Length: 4.075 km
Corners: 10 left, 6 right
Pole position: left  

SBK RECORDS: new circuit

PREVIOUS SBK RESULTS: new circuit

 

Weekend schedule (CET):

Friday
11.20 - 12.00 – SSP Free Practice
16.00 – 16.40 – Superpole

Saturday
9.50 – 10.00 – Warm-up
15.15 – SSP Race 1

Sunday
9.40 – 9.50 – SSP Warm-up
15.15 – SSP Race 2

  • PETRONAS
  • HONDA
  • HRC
  • NISSIN
  • DENSO
  • RDS
  • SHOWA
  • AKRAPOVIC
  • DOMINO
  • GBRacing
  • PIRELLI
  • DEGREE
  • Kurabike
  • MIDORI CORPORATION
  • RK
  • SPIDER
  • STM
  • THERMAL TECNOLOGY
  • WR
  • .
  • .

Back to WorldSBK