The weather in Buriram, Thailand in early December is sunny and windy, and the Chang International racetrack is lively and a focal point of excitement as it is the final race of the ARRC 2019 Asian motorcycle racing championship and also the final race of the Thailand Talent Cup 2019 (TTC 2019).
If the ARRC championship has become familiar to Vietnamese fans in recent years, the TTC championship is still relatively unfamiliar.
What do you know about the Thailand Talent Cup?
The Thailand Talent Cup (TTC) is a competition organized by A.P. Honda (Honda Thailand) since 2017 with the aim of finding young talents in motorcycle sports. In 2018, TTC became the focus of the “Race To Dream” campaign by A.P. Honda with the goal of finding a Thai rider who can participate in MotoGP before 2025. Therefore, this is a key championship for Thai motorcycle racing.
TTC is for Thai riders aged 10-20 who have been trained at the Honda Thailand Racing Academy (for riders aged 9-14) and young Asian riders under 25. Riders who shine in TTC will have the opportunity to compete in the Asia Talent Cup (ATC), the most prestigious young racing series in Asia and Oceania organized by FIM ASIA.
The racing bikes used in TTC are similar to those used in ATC and Moto3, which are the Honda NSF250R. This is a single-cylinder, 250cc motorcycle model. The weight of these bikes will be adjusted according to the weight of the riders to ensure that the total weight of the rider and bike is equivalent among all riders.
The journey to the championship of “Viet Nam”
“Crazy Man” Cao Viet Nam is the only rider from Honda Racing Vietnam participating in this championship. In his first season in TTC, Cao Viet Nam finished in the top 10 overall. In TTC 2019, with just one year of independent competition, Cao Viet Nam made significant progress by winning the TTC 2019 championship.
“Crazy Man” started TTC 2019 by not being able to complete the race on the first day of the first round, but he finished the championship with a championship title. Let’s review the fantastic journey of “Crazy Man” and Honda Racing Vietnam on the road to the championship.
|
Race |
Location |
Time (2019) |
|
1 |
Thailand Circuit Nakhornchaisri |
20-21 April |
|
2 |
Chang International Circuit, Thailand |
1-2 June |
|
3 |
Chang International Circuit, Thailand |
13-14 July |
|
4 |
Chang International Circuit, Thailand |
24-25 August |
|
5 |
Chang International Circuit, Thailand |
7-8 September |
|
6 |
Chang International Circuit, Thailand |
16-17 November |
|
7 |
Chang International Circuit, Thailand |
30 November – 1 December |
Round 1: Unable to complete the race on the first day, but on the second race day, Nam finished in 9th place.
The second round of TTC 2019 was full of drama for Cao Viet Nam. On the first race day, he finished in 2nd place, marking the first time since 2016 that a Vietnamese rider has stood on the podium at an international race and also the first time for Honda Racing Vietnam as an independent team. However, in the afternoon of that day, the organizers penalized “Crazy Man” by dropping him 2 positions due to crossing the yellow flag, leaving everyone shocked and disappointed. Moving on to the next race day, despite the affected mindset, he still managed to secure 3rd place, cementing his position on the podium.
In the next two rounds, 3 and 4, due to the dense racing schedule of both ARRC and TTC, Cao Viet Nam’s performance declined significantly. In the 4th round, he only scored 14 points, leaving him at a disadvantage in the race for the TTC 2019 championship.
In the 5th round, “Crazy Man” made a comeback and regained his top form with two 2nd place finishes in the two race days. However, in the following 6th round, after a two-month break, “Crazy Man” couldn’t display his dominance and only managed to score 24 points. At this point, his championship chances were extremely uncertain as he needed at least 34 points in the final round while also hoping that the home rider Watcharin Tubtim-on would not be on the podium, and remember that Watcharin had been on the podium 5 times in the TTC 2019 season.
The championship chances of Cao Viet Nam were further cast into doubt as in the final round, he had to compete in the AP250 category of ARRC 2019. Therefore, this was a race that Cao Viet Nam had to battle through. If he didn’t distribute his energy properly, he would come out empty-handed in the 2019 season.
And finally, “Crazy Man” showed why he is the “dark horse” of the 2019 season. In the first race day of the final round of TTC 2019, he excellently won the stage, securing his first victory in his international racing career as an independent rider since 2019. At the same time, he closed the gap with Watcharin to just 3 points, as in the first race day, this rider could only finish in 4th place, making the championship race evenly matched between the two riders.
On the second race day, “Crazy Man” had a slight advantage as TTC would take place before ARRC on this day. Continuing the momentum from the first race day, he raced extremely impressively and led the race consistently. However, in the final few laps, he couldn’t maintain the necessary composure and could only finish in 3rd place. However, his direct competitor, Watcharin, had a disappointing day and could only finish in 7th place. In the end, “Crazy Man” Cao Viet Nam scored 168 points and claimed the TTC 2019 championship title, just 2 points ahead of Watcharin.
The TTC 2019 championship is the first international championship in Cao Viet Nam’s racing career, and it is also the first championship for Honda Vietnam (since their racing activities in 2016 in collaboration with Yuzy Racing Team, Malaysia) or Honda Racing Vietnam (independent racing since 2019). The TTC 2019 championship is considered a miracle as Vietnam has won the championship in a prestigious international racing series ahead of countries like Thailand and Indonesia, which have a motorcycle racing history at least 20 years ahead of Vietnam. Honda Vietnam has only entered the racing field since 2016 and became an independent team in 2018, so the TTC 2019 championship is a significant milestone.
For the first time in history, Vietnam has a champion in an international championship, which is a milestone not only for Cao Viet Nam and Honda Racing Vietnam but also for the motorcycle racing scene in Vietnam.
As “Crazy Man” Cao Viet Nam shared after winning the championship: “I want to dedicate the TTC 2019 championship to the entire Honda Racing Vietnam team and all the fans. I also want to send a message to the authorities: ‘Racing is not a bad thing, let’s create conditions for the young talents of Vietnamese motorcycle racing to develop, we can compete in regional and continental races’.”
The TTC 2019 championship has contributed to a brilliant 2019 for Vietnamese sports in general. Now, everyone is hoping that in 2020, “Crazy Man” and Honda Racing Vietnam, with their fiery spirit and fearlessness of challenges, will continue to raise the Vietnamese flag high in top international racing championships.
Trang Nguyen (Forum.autodaily.vn)
