The second leg of ARRC 2023 took place at Sepang Circuit, Malaysia from May 13th to May 14th, 2023. Sepang is known as one of the most famous racing tracks in Southeast Asia, hosting a series of prestigious races, including the F1 Grand Prix and MotoGP. Sepang Circuit has a length of 5.54 km with a total of 15 corners, combining high-speed and low-speed corners with dizzying changes in elevation. It is considered a “stage” for racers to show off their skills, experience, and racing prowess.
With the momentum from a brilliant start, the warriors of Honda Racing Vietnam arrived at Sepang with confidence, enthusiasm, and a desire to achieve more impressive results. Moreover, with the goal of making it into the Top 10 throughout the ARRC 2023 season, Honda Racing Vietnam has invested heavily in both human resources and racing technology. It can be seen that the team has been continuously adjusting to improve day by day.
“After Stage 1, which was very successful, I feel full of confidence and determination to achieve new goals in Stage 2 at Sepang. Before starting Stage 2, the team took the bike to Dyno for power evaluation to make suitable improvements. I am really satisfied with what the team is doing, always striving to improve every day to achieve better results,” shared racer Cao Viet Nam.
However, in addition to the increasing difficulty of the track compared to Stage 1 in Chang (Buriram, Thailand), the harsh weather conditions, intense heat, and competition between the racers have posed numerous challenges to the Vietnamese riders at Stage 2 of ARRC 2023.
Before Race 1, Honda Racing Vietnam encountered an unfortunate incident in the AP250 category. In the first practice session, there was an oil leak on the track, causing racers Cao Viet Nam and Nguyen Duc Thanh to slip and fall. The high-speed crash caused both riders from Honda Racing Vietnam to suffer minor injuries and they were unable to train in the following practice sessions, so there was not much data to improve the bike.
The regrettable incident somewhat affected the qualifying race as Cao Viet Nam (#65) only secured the 15th starting position, while Nguyen Duc Thanh (#193) started 18th in the AP250 category. Meanwhile, Nguyen Anh Tuan (#178) and Nguyen Huu Tri (#111) started 21st and 24th in the UB150 category. Although the qualifying results were unfavorable, speed enthusiasts still hope that the Vietnamese riders will explode in order to achieve impressive results.
The first race day at Sepang Circuit of the ARRC 2023 season took place under a scorching 40°C sun. The hot air only added to the fierceness of the speed battles among the Asian racers.
Overcoming the expected difficulties, Nguyen Anh Tuan finished an impressive 9th position, surpassing 12 places from his starting position, thereby earning the first 7 points of the season. This result, in addition to some luck as 7 racers withdrew in the final lap, deserves praise for Tuan’s pursuit of the top. Meanwhile, young racer Nguyen Huu Tri also had a good race despite it only being his second appearance in the Asian arena. Racer #111 finished 18th, surpassing 6 places from his starting position.
In the AP250 category, despite not fully recovering from the crash in the previous practice run, Cao Viet Nam’s determination, together with the team’s efforts, helped him finish in 11th position, adding 5 valuable points to the overall standings. Racer Nguyen Duc Thanh surpassed 2 places from his starting position to finish 16th out of 24 riders.
After the Race 1 results, which were not as expected, racer Cao Viet Nam entered Race 2 with a high level of determination and fought very hard. Despite starting from an unfavorable position, Viet Nam improved his position and finished in 10th place, while Nguyen Duc Thanh finished 17th. For “the crazy man,” there is likely to be progress in terms of results in Stage 3, while his teammate Duc Thanh will need to make more effort to avoid falling too far behind the competitors.
In the UB150 category, there were no surprises in Race 2 as Nguyen Anh Tuan finished in 19th position, while Nguyen Huu Tri finished 20th. For Huu Tri, completing the race and reducing the time with each stage was considered a success for this young 15-year-old racer.
The speed journey at Sepang Circuit, Malaysia has come to an end, leaving many regrets for speed enthusiasts from Vietnam as the performance in Stage 2 did not live up to expectations after a dazzling start. Nevertheless, there were still bright spots and positive signals as the team achieved valuable points at the “inferno” of Sepang, and the young racers from Honda Racing Vietnam are improving day by day.
Mr. Koji Sugita (middle), General Director of Honda Vietnam.
Mr. Koji Sugita, a big fan of big bikes and motorsports.
Notably, the image of Mr. Koji Sugita, the new General Director of Honda Vietnam, a big fan of big bikes and motorsports, appearing in the pit of Honda Racing Vietnam, enthusiastically “igniting” the whole team at Stage 2 was truly impressive. His closeness, friendliness, expertise in motorsports, and especially his professional competence undoubtedly provide further motivation for the Honda Racing Vietnam riders and the entire team to confidently advance further.
So far, after the first 2 stages of the ARRC 2023 season, Cao Viet Nam is in 9th place in the AP250 standings with 32 points, while Nguyen Duc Thanh has not scored any points yet. In the UB150 category, Nguyen Anh Tuan is in 19th place with 7 points, while Nguyen Huu Tri is in last place without any points.
With the spirit of effort, maturity through each stage, and the ability to adapt and keep pace with the top racers on the continent, we hope that the Honda Racing Vietnam riders will quickly progress and achieve better scores in the upcoming stages, aiming to improve their position on the racing map of the continent.
See you at Stage 3 of ARRC 2023, which will take place at Sportsland Sugo International Circuit, Japan in June, with even greater breakthroughs and explosions from the Honda Racing Vietnam team!
Anh Quan (forum.autodaily.vn)
