Less than two weeks since round four, which took place at Cremona Circuit in Italy, PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders Kaito Toba and Syarifuddin Azman are already onto the next, as they make final preparations for the fifth WorldSSP round, which will get underway at Autodrom Most on Friday morning.

The latest Italian round brought mixed results, with the two riders suffering setbacks and crashes over the course of the weekend, though fortunately they walked away unhurt. Toba reached the points zone in Sunday’s race 2, but both he and teammate Azman are hoping for a somewhat smoother fifth round.

Last year’s Czech round ran in very hot conditions, but luck was sadly not on Kaito’s side, the race results conditioned by various factors. The Japanese rider will be looking for more this time around, just as Malaysian rookie Syarifuddin will be aiming to learn another new track in good time so as to be ready to race on Saturday.

Dating back to the 1980s, the Autodrom Most has hosted the production-derived championship since 2021. Located in the north-east of the country, close to the German border, the track is ideally placed to attract fans from far and wide. It currently measures 4.212 km in length and incorporates 21 turns, with pole position on the left.

Kaito Toba #27

“We’re off to Most in the Czech Republic for the next races. It’s quite a small track which may suit our Honda CBR600RR better than some other circuits. The weather forecast is looking decent enough for now, with temperatures quite a bit lower than they were for last year’s event. We were quite happy with the setting of the bike on Sunday at Cremona, when it was also cooler. We’ll use that as a base and then work on adjustments that can support us around the Most track. Let’s see what the weekend brings, I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Syarifuddin Azman #63

“I’m keen to see the Most track for the first time. I know I’ll need to work hard right from Friday to understand the layout while also working with my team to adapt my bike to suit. If we can make the most of practice and Superpole then hopefully we can have a less complicated weekend with respect to Cremona.”

Track information:

Country: Czech Republic
Name: Autodrom Most
Length: 4.212 km
Pole position: left
Corners: 9 left, 12 right

SSP RECORDS: Best lap: Manzi (Yamaha) 1'34.834 (2024). Superpole – Montella (Ducati) 1’34.126 (2024).

2024 SSP RESULTS: 

Race 1 - 1. Huertas (Ducati); 2. Debise (Yamaha); 3. Manzi (Yamaha)

Race 2 - 1. Huertas (Ducati); 2. Manzi (Yamaha); 3. Montella (Ducati)

Weekend schedule (CET):

Friday
9.40 – 10.20 – SSP Free Practice 1
13.55 – 14.35 – SSP Superpole

Saturday
9.30 – 9.40 – SSP Warm-up
12.35 – SSP Race 1

Sunday
9.20 – 9.30 – SSP Warm-up
12.35 – SSP Race 2