Azlan Enters The History Books As The First Asian Superbike Champion

He began the season as the first rider to win the ASB1000 race in the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. At the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand, for the 2019 finale, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) closed the year on a high note with an imperious win to enter the history books as the first Asian Superbike Champion.

The ASB1000 action closed with an explosive final showdown with three riders still in the running at the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship finale in Thailand.

Zaqhwan Zaidi (Honda Asia Dream Racing with SHOWA), who still had an outside chance of creating a monumental upset, led the 12-rider grid on pole position. The Malaysian claimed his third of the season in Race 1 and still had a mathematical chance of creating an upset provided that both the main title contenders (Azlan and Broc) failed to collect any points from the second race.

Beside Zaqhwan, the man with the best chance for the title, Azlan Shah lined up on P2 while Broc Parkes (Yamaha Racing Team ASEAN), still the championship leader after a disastrous Saturday, was a menacing presence on the second row.

Since the start of the ASB1000 class this season, the Chang International Circuit has turned out to be a happy hunting ground for the BMW. A confident Azlan darted into the lead at the start of the 13-lap race. Azlan was stalked by Zaqhwan in the first lap but a series of quick laps saw Azlan pulling ahead by 3.9 seconds by Lap 5. The Malaysian rider then produced a slew of inch-perfect defensive laps to keep his position at the front.

Behind Azlan, a bad start by Broc put his final campaign for the title on the back foot. On Lap 6, Broc was fifth on the track, trailing Azlan by a hefty 5.7 seconds, and it was becoming increasingly clear that Broc’s title hopes had evaporated.

Up in front, Azlan was in no mood to mess around. The BMW rider continued to plough through the remaining laps in perfect form until he stormed to his sixth win of the season with 20’57.034s. Zaqhwan was second across the line, five seconds behind Azlan followed by Thitipong Warokorn (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team) in third.

In the final points tally, Azlan picked up his third Asian title with 238 points. Azlan was the 2013 and 2017 SuperSports 600cc champion. Broc ended the season in second with 225 points and Zaqhwan third with 211 points.

However, Broc’s determined racing had done enough to put Yamaha Racing Team ASEAN at the top of the team standings with 244 points. The nine points Broc collected allowed the Japanese team to deny the ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team from taking yet another team title by three points.

-Asia Road Racing Championship.