- Rajiv Sethu qualified in 13th position but faced trouble during the race resulting in a 15th position finish
- Senthil Kumar started the race in 24th position but crashed in the last corner thus finishing in 28th position
After a positive completion of Round 3 at the Buriram circuit in Thailand, Round four of the ongoing 2019 Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) has shifted to Japan at Suzuka circuit.
Idemitsu Honda Racing India team, the solo Indian racing team in the championship witnessed a rather disappointing qualifying session. The team’s rider first rider, Rajiv Sethu, managed to qualify 13th with a 5th row start on the grip. His teammate Senthil Kumar has to settle down for 24th on the grid. As the lights for Race 1 went out, Rajiv was off to a good start but after committing a cornering mistake in turn 16 he ended up losing two positions down to 15th. In the course of the race, Indonesian rider Anggi Setiawan overtook Rajiv in lap 6. However, not wanting to lose hope, the Chennai-based rider made his move on Honda’s Thai rider Tatkorin Buasri in lap 7 of the race. With this move, Rajiv managed to gain back his 15th position thus finishing amongst the top 15 riders on the grid.
On the other hand, Senthil Kumar faced a tough fight right from the start of the race. Beginning the race in 24th on the grid, Senthil earned a position by lap 2 and yet another in the following lap, but his standing was short-lived as he was overtaken by another rider by lap 6. Not wanting to lose further positions, Senthil’s aim was to maintain the pace and hopefully complete the race in 23rd position. However, disaster struck during lap 8 as he suffered a crash. Worse, it happened in the last corner of the race. However, he managed to get the bike back up and completed the race in 28th position.
Race 2 of Round 4 will determine the winner of this critical round as the season reaches its mid-point.
