The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team is on track at the Misano World Circuit in Italy, competing in round six of the 2025 Supersport World Championship with riders Kaito Toba and Syarifuddin Azman.

The sole WorldSSP practice session ran mid-morning but was red-flagged just ten minutes in following a technical problem for another rider. Back on track a few minutes later, Toba and Azman worked hard to find a suitable setup for their CBR600RR bikes during the remaining thirty minutes. In a session that brought several crashes, the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders were able to stay out of trouble and make the most of the track time, rounding out the phase in twenty-ninth (Kaito – 1’40.504), and in thirty-third position (Syarifuddin - 1’41.537). 

Temperatures rose quickly during the morning which meant that the subsequent Superpole qualifying phase took place on a fairly hot track (air temp. 29°C, track temp. 45°C). This did not deter the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda duo, with both Toba and Azman soon improving on their best times set in practice.

Keen to secure a solid grid position considering that the SSP field comprises 34 riders this weekend, Kaito continued to lower his lap times throughout the session. Finishing with a best of 1’39.241, the Japanese rider was able to qualify twenty-eighth in a very tightly packed field, with only a little over second separating him from the top fifteen. Azman, who is competing here with a Supersport bike for the first time, shaved more than a second off his earlier time (1’40.321) to place thirty-first at the session’s end.

These results mean that Kaito and Azman will line up on the tenth and eleventh row of the grid respectively for the weekend’s first 18 lap race, which will get underway on Saturday at 12.35pm.

Kaito Toba

“Today we were out on track for free practice and Superpole. Unfortunately, I had some issues with the bike in both sessions that we haven’t yet been able to solve. We’ll work with the data we have to try to understand how and where to improve in preparation for tomorrow’s race.”

Syarifuddin Azman

“I’m really happy to be back at Misano again. Today we made some progress with respect to the last race, and I feel a lot better on the bike. The team have made some modifications to the suspension that have allowed me to feel more comfortable. I think that practice and Superpole went quite well and I’m looking forward to Race 1, safe in the knowledge that the team will do something more to help in preparation for tomorrow. I like the hot conditions, though it’s perhaps a little cooler here than in Malaysia!”