The eleventh WorldSSP round is in play at the Estoril Circuit in Portugal, with the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team fielding three riders this weekend, in the shape of Kaito Toba, Khairul Idham Pawi and wildcard Azroy Hakeem. 

All three riders chose to complete a few laps during the morning’s ten-minute wet warm-up, using the track time to assess the behaviour of the CBR600RR on the wet asphalt and prepare for the possibility of similar conditions during the weekend’s first race. SSP Race 1 ultimately ran in dry conditions, but the trio nevertheless faced an uphill climb today as, having been caught out by the rain in Friday’s Superpole, Hakeem and Toba started Race 1 from row nine of the grid and Pawi from row ten. 

When the lights went out on this 18-lap race, Hakeem immediately made up five positions to place twenty-first, followed closely by Toba, twenty-third, with Pawi lying P26. Japanese rider Kaito soon moved ahead of wildcard Azroy and continued to make progress, moving into the top twenty by lap three. Determined to reach the points zone, Toba did not let up, lapping with a very strong rhythm that allowed him to climb to fifteenth by lap eleven. Gaining one more position in the latter stages, Kaito was able to boost his points tally by crossing the line fourteenth in the first of the weekend’s races. Pawi meanwhile ran a steady race, improving his position in the early stages and part of a small group of riders fighting for the top twenty. Able to maintain a consistent pace, the Malaysian continued to gain ground, moving into the top twenty before concluding the race in eighteenth position. Having slipped back down the field after making an encouraging start, wildcard Hakeem had more trouble keeping pace once he lost contact with his closest rivals. The Malaysian completed the race but could do no more than twenty-first today. 

Kaito Toba P14

“This morning in warm-up we were back on a wet track again, but we decided not to take any big risks as the forecast for the afternoon was dry. In the race I got away from the back of the grid and knew it was going to be quite the challenge to fight back. I started well, although I didn’t manage to latch onto a faster group in the first few laps. I was gradually able to overtake other riders though and reach the points zone. We have a bit of work ahead of us if we want to improve the bike set-up for tomorrow. I think we can make a step forward with the rear if we work hard, and hopefully we can have a dry warm up tomorrow so that we can check the bike before the race.” 

Khairul Idham Pawi P18

“Today in Race 1 the lap times were not bad but we’re still too far from the top ten. After wet practices, today’s race was our first real chance to ride in the dry and I had a lot of rear spin, which made it tough. If we can find a way to sort that in warm-up tomorrow, with any luck I can feel more comfortable and do more in race 2.” 

Azroy Hakeem P21

“The race was quite tough as we hadn’t had many laps in the dry in practice. I tried my best to find good feeling anyway, but felt that my gearing wasn’t quite right. So hopefully we can fix that for tomorrow and take another step in Race 2.”