Emotion has been present at all four of the opening races. Four different riders have stood atop the podium: Ai Ogura, Somkiat Chantra, Gerry Salim and Andi Izdihar.
The 21 young riders of the Cup will be back in action alongside the World Superbike Championship once more. This is the first of two occasions which the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup will run in Sepang, first alongside World Superbike and later alongside MotoGP.
In the standings it is Gerry Salim who leads with 71 points followed closely by Somkiat Chantra with 68 and Ai Ogura with 67 in third.
The Sepang track still lingers in the memories of the riders as it is where the pre-season test took place in February. It is also a track familiar to all the veterans of the class; Kazuki Masaki, Ai Ogura, Ryusei Yamanaka, Gerry Salim, Andi Izdihar and Somkiat Chantra all in their second year and all showing well in the opening rounds. All of them know Sepang well and will be able to continue improving their lap times and racing lines, braking harder and accelerating earlier.
What happened in 2015?
Sepang hosted two rounds last year, a total of four races. In those four races there were four different riders who scored victory. Ayumu Sasaki, Nakarin Atiratphuvapat, Takuma Kunimine and Kazuki Masaki. All won under different circumstances, racing to the limit in the first group, some taking advantages of crashes while others were unable to recreate their pace in later races. Sepang is an important test of fitness, the intense heat and high humidity are a gruelling challenge for even the most experienced rider.
Could Kazuki Masaki become the fifth name added to the list of winners in 2016 and repeat his 2015 victory in Sepang?
Last year it was Kunimine who emerged as the leader early in the race. After six laps there was a fall in the group and this saw the race divided into a battle of two groups, Kunimine in the lead with Masaki in second some distance away. Behind them yet further was a group of five riders including Atiratphuvapat, Norrodin, Sasaki, Rasol and Date.
Kazuki Masaki focused on setting fastest lap after fastest lap and cutting the distance to Kunimine, building towards a crucial last corner pass. Masaki would risk it all in that final curve, snatching victory by 0.061s from Kunimine. Local rider Adam Norrodin, who now races in the Moto3 World Championship, would take third place.
After the start to the season, Alberto Puig, Director of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup, believes: “It is clear that we have more riders in the leading group, which pulls the racing ahead, especially in the early laps. This is very positive. The truth is that all of our riders continue their training process each race and are eager to learn so they can end the season in a great way.”
