With his victory at home the Thai rider takes the lead of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup after the first round of 2016. Both Ai Ogura and Chantra leave the Chang International Circuit in Buriram (Thailand) level on points, each with 38.
The young riders of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup were the first to run at the Thai circuit, ahead of their idols in the WorldSBK Championship.
Race 2
The race was again run on a dry track, the start was on this occasion clean and devoid of Race 1’s issues. After the first few laps, Ryusei Yamanaka, Gerry Salim and Somkiat Chantra were in their own group, all continuously overtaking each other while Andi Izdihar seemed more reserved, conscious of wanting to wait till the final laps after falling in the first race.
At one point Chantra broke away from the group able to run alone and leaving Yamanaka as the leader of the chasing group with Ai Ogura, Kazuki Masaki, Gerry Salim and Andi Izdihar. Later Salim faded away and the rest were left to battle it out amongst themselves. By mid-race they were all grouped together again, seven riders all fighting it out as there were constant changes, all riders braking and accelerating to the limit. But it was local rider Somkiat Chantra who emerged victorious with Yamanaka and Izdihar behind.
Alberto Puig, Director of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup, was satisfied after the race weekend: “It’s more or less what we expected. We have two clear differentiated groups, but everything is ok. The bikes are working, the tyres are working and there weren’t any big injuries. We have a group of riders that are pushing a lot and I think they are going to come Europe in a few years and they are going to be strong. Now we are going to Qatar and let’s see what happen there”.
The next round of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup will run alongside the MotoGP World Championship in Qatar from the 17th to 20th of March.
