From March 24th to 26th, speed enthusiasts in Asia once again turned their attention to the “fire pan” of Chang Circuit – Buriram – Thailand; to kick off the continental-level Asia Road Racing Championship 2023 season. This can be said to be a debt-ridden arena for members of the Honda Racing Vietnam Team.
A debt-ridden cauldron
The Chang International Circuit was established in 2014 and is located in Buriram, Thailand. This “fire pan” is 4,554 km long with 12 turns – including 5 left turns and 7 right turns – and meets the highest MotoGP standards for high-speed motorcycles. This place can be said to be a debt-ridden arena for the Honda Racing Vietnam Team.
It is said so because the Chang circuit is the geographically closest location to our country. Objective conditions such as time zones, weather, humidity, and altitude at Chang circuit are not much different from the Dai Nam racetrack in Binh Duong province, which requires athletes to spend time and effort to get acquainted and adapt.
This is also a familiar race track for Vietnamese athletes with dozens of races over many years, through big and small races. The most prominent of which is the 2019 Thailand Talent Cup championship of “crazy guy” Cao Viet Nam. At the moment, the #65 racer is also the most experienced member of the Honda Racing Vietnam Team, involved in the ARRC race continuously from the 2016 season to the present, going through a series of racing rankings from UB130, up to UB150 and now AP250.
Therefore, the launch of ARRC 2023 at the Chang circuit – Thailand can be considered as a quite favorable condition for Vietnamese riders. Honda Racing Vietnam Team has also confidently set goals for this season, which is to enter the top 10 this season, thereby improving their position on the continental sports racing map.
In order to realize this goal, Honda Racing Vietnam Team has also made a series of well-prepared moves, including: restructuring the racing team, strengthening research and development of engines for the AP250 category, coordinating with the Yuzy team from Indonesia to improve performance for racing bikes in the UB150 category, or even organizing training sessions at the Suzuka racetrack – Japan.
Qualifying race UB150:
Racer Nguyen Anh Tuan performed well in practice sessions and had a good start. In the qualifying race, at one point #178 even made it into the top 10 but as time went by, the competition became fiercer. It is regrettable that #178 could not defend his position and gradually dropped down the standings.
At the end of the qualifying race, Nguyen Anh Tuan’s best lap time ranked 22/24, enough to put him right in front of his teammate, young racer Nguyen Huu Tri #111, at the start.
Qualifying race AP250:
Meanwhile, both racers #65 Cao Viet Nam and #193 Nguyen Duc Thanh had a good start, even at one point both reached top 2 and top 4 in the qualifying race. But both Vietnamese riders could not successfully defend these results and were overtaken by their opponents, ending up in the top 20.
Specifically, #65 Cao Viet Nam ranked 13/22 while his teammate #193 Nguyen Duc Thanh had to start in 18/22. The race promises to be very exciting, as this year “crazy guy” Cao Viet Nam no longer has to compete alone in the race.
His teammate – racer #193 Nguyen Duc Thanh was promoted to compete in the AP250 category and passed the UB150 category slot to young racer Nguyen Huu Tri #111. With these personnel changes, it is certain that the Honda Vietnam Racing Team has very careful tactical calculations to ensure that each racer can maximize their ability to achieve the best results.
Race 1 – UB150:
178 Nguyen Anh Tuan started 22/24 and right behind him was Nguyen Huu Tri 111. However, a major difficulty arose when Huu Tri’s bike encountered a technical problem while running from the Pit to line up for the start. This pushed Anh Tuan into a solitary race.
The lights went out and the start was not as smooth as expected, making racer #178 finish the first lap in 22/24. Then, he tried to rise to 21/24 in the second lap, but dropped to 22/24 before entering the fourth lap.
By the end of the fourth lap, it was the turn of racer #202 to encounter a technical problem and had to slow down, inadvertently creating an advantage for Nguyen Anh Tuan #178 to take the 21/24 position before entering the fifth lap. Seizing the opportunity, Anh Tuan continued to attack and rose to 20/24, 2.6 seconds behind the first racer.
This result was maintained until the racers completed 8 laps, crossed the Checquered flag and reached the finish line. At the end of the first race day, racer #122 Md Shafiq Rasol from Malaysia’s Onexox Tkkr Racing Team won the highest position on the podium. Meanwhile, Nguyen Anh Tuan #178 from Honda Vietnam Racing Team finished with a rank of 20/24, while his teammate #111 Nguyen Huu Tri did not even have time to start.
One quite special thing in Race 1 of the 2023 ARRC season is that all 24 UB150 racers ran very evenly, with no split groups. The distance between the first racer and the last one was only a few seconds.
Race 1 – AP250:
Meanwhile, racer #65 Cao Viet Nam and #193 Nguyen Duc Thanh started the race quite favorably, even reaching top 2 and top 4 in the qualifying race. But both Vietnamese racers failed to successfully defend this result and gradually were overtaken by their opponents, ending up in the top 20.
Specifically, #65 Cao Viet Nam ranked 13/22 while his teammate #193 Nguyen Duc Thanh had to start in 18/22. This race promises to be very interesting, as this year “crazy guy” Cao Viet Nam no longer has to compete alone.
His teammate – racer #193 Nguyen Duc Thanh was promoted to compete in the AP250 category and passed the UB150 category slot to young racer Nguyen Huu Tri #111. With these personnel changes, it is certain that the Honda Vietnam Racing Team has very careful tactical calculations to ensure that each racer can maximize their ability to achieve the best results.
In the following laps, “crazy guy” #65 continued to make relentless attacks and successively achieved 13/22, then rose to 11/22 and entered the top 9/22 in the 7th lap and was overtaken by Japanese racer Aiki Iyoshi, dropping to 10/22 in the 8th lap. Meanwhile, #193 continued to drop to 20/22, but then he regained the 18/22 position at the end of the 8th lap.
Entering the 9th lap, Cao Viet Nam was once again pushed out of the top 10, running in 11/22 and his teammate #193 dropped to 19/22. This result was maintained in the 9th lap. But then “crazy guy” went really crazy and showed his determination with a strong attack, overtaking three opponents to achieve the 8/22 position. Meanwhile, his teammate #193 dropped to 20/22. This result was maintained until the racers reached the finish line.
Overall in Race 1, it can be said that #65 Cao Viet Nam had an impressive performance, starting not very favorably in 13th position among the racers – 20 seconds behind the first racer, Rheza Danica Ahrens #123 from Astra Honda Racing Team. His teammate Nguyen Duc Thanh #193 finished in 20th place, making his international racing debut in the AP250 category.
Race 2 – UB150:
On the second race day, both racers #178 Nguyen Anh Tuan and #111 Nguyen Huu Tri started the race with determination from the last two positions similar to the first day of Race 1. However, at the start, both Anh Tuan and Huu Tri could not take advantage of the opportunity to move up and only ran at the back of the pack.
Because similar to the previous race day, all 24 racers ran in a tight chase, forming a single group instead of splitting into smaller ones. This made it much more difficult for breakthrough attempts.
However, in the fourth lap, taking advantage of the opportunity, #178 Nguyen Anh Tuan quickly moved up to 22nd and even held 21/24 in the last lap. But then #179 could not successfully defend the position in the last few meters. Meanwhile, his teammate #111 Nguyen Huu Tri was still squeezed below and could not keep up.
At the end of the race, #178 Nguyen Anh Tuan finished in 21st place, about 2.3 seconds behind the first racer; while #111 Nguyen Huu Tri – in his first international race – stopped at the 22nd position. Thus, after two race days, both Huu Tri and Anh Tuan did not achieve the expected success at Round 1. However, ARRC 2023 still has 5 more race rounds and the opportunity for racers to seek revenge at the Chang circuit – Thailand is still wide open.
Race 2 – AP250:
Meanwhile, in this battlefield, the battle for positions seemed to be much more intense. A not-so-perfect start made #65 Cao Viet Nam have to remain in 13th position among the 22 racers in the first lap.
His teammate #193 Nguyen Duc Thanh also did not provide much help as he ran in 21st place among 22 racers and unexpectedly fell off at turn 1 just after completing the first lap; having to stop and exit the arena early.
However, shortly after that, “crazy guy” Cao Viet Nam – although running alone – finally unleashed his strength and showed his power when entering the third lap with an improved ranking – 10/22. In the third lap, #65 Cao Viet Nam continued to rise to enter the top 10 with the position of 9/22.
The surprising thing happened in the fourth lap when racer #80 made a mistake at a turn and had to give up. Above him, #65 still made efforts to chase the goal and launch crazy attacks to climb to the 8th position. Entering the last lap, everything became extremely intense when Cao Viet Nam continued to rise and entered the top 5 before reaching the finish line.
Overall results, #65 Cao Viet Nam helped the Honda Racing Vietnam Team for the first time to be present in the top 4 (as the result of the fourth-place racer was canceled), despite starting not very favorably in 13th position. The gap with the first place was also reduced to 16.5 seconds. Meanwhile, his teammate Nguyen Duc Thanh #193 did not finish the race and temporarily ranked 19th.
With this result, after the Round 1 of ARRC 2023 in Thailand, the Honda Racing Vietnam Team has accumulated a total of 21 valuable points, including 8 points in Race 1 and 13 points in Race 2, all earned by Cao Viet Nam #65. The other racers are also eager for revenge in the next 5 races to be held in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, and Thailand, throughout the rest of the year.
Anh Phan (Tuoitrethudo)
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