Round 1 of the Malaysian Super Series is on this weekend at Sepang International Circuit with two categories for cars and four categories for bikes running on 29-30 May 2010. The event, which has been confirmed to hold six rounds for the 2010 season, will be carrying out its season opener with the involvement of Motorsport Asia, for the first time. The races will be held on the full 5.54km circuit with Free Practice and Qualifying being held today, Saturday 29 May while the Races will all be held on Sunday 30 May. Two car race series competing this weekend are Supersixteen and Classic Car while Supersports, Superbikes / Superstock and Bikerz Cup are under the bike categories.
One main change to the regulations for the Qualifying has taken effect this first weekend of the Malaysian Super Series. The change, taking the second best time set during the qualifying for the Round 2 grid, is to provide for a fair grid.The Qualifying session started with the Bikerz Cup where 45 riders went out on a dry track at 2pm. Ahmad Azhar Hamid took the pole position for both Rounds 1 and 2 when he set the fastest and second fastest times of the day. Azhar Hamid’s time of 2:39.378 was 1.194 seconds faster than the time set by Mohd Rizal Jantan and a further 1.2 seconds ahead of R.Suresh all in Bikerz Cup A. Meanwhile, Mohd Shariffudin, who will line up in 15th position, was the fastest in the Bikerz Cup B.
Riders in the Supersports category faced changing weather with the skies opening up midway through their qualifying session with a drizzle heavy enough to make the riders cut their session short. Junior rider, Wilairot Rathapong on the Honda CBR1000 set the fastest time of the day to claim pole for Round 1. His compatriot and Supersports Open category, Suhathai Chaemsap claimed pole position for Round 2 when he clocked 2:18.364.
The Superbike and Superstock categories are combined for the weekend. Muhammad Zamri Baba was the fastest of the 32 riders during the Qualifying session today, setting a time of 2:29.533, a 5.455 second gap separates him and second fastest rider of the day, Yasuhiro Kuhara. Baba’s second best time also qualified him to take pole for Round 2. Norhisham Mohd, who will line up fifth on the grid, set the fastest time in the Superstock category and leads Luca Cassoni and Remon Azrem Abdul Kadir in sixth and seventh respectively. In the cars category, Bertie McCrory in his Lotus 7 took both Rounds 1 & 2 pole positions for the Classic Car series when he set the time of 2:24.624 and 2:24.636 respectively. Lining up beside him on the front row will be Daniel Bilski in his Porsche 911 RSR with Mike Ricks and Paul Winklemann behind them. Damien Dielenberg took the first pole for the Supersixteen for 2010 season. His time of 2:36.276 was 2.540 seconds ahead of second placed man Mohd Faizal and a further 2 seconds ahead of Winston Eu in third. The top three positions will remain the same for the start of both rounds.Round 1 for all series will be held in the morning, beginning at 9.00am with the Superbikes/Superstock race before taking a short break at 12.50pm after the Bikerz Cup race. Round 2 for all series will resume at 1.30pm with the Supersports bike race and ending the day will be the 45 strong field of bikers in the Bikerz Cup category.
Top 5 Qualifying – Bikes
Bikerz Cup
POS. NAME COMP No BEST TIME 2ND BEST TIME
1. Ahmad Azhar Hamid 89 2:39.378 2:39.433
2. Mohd Rizal Jantan 55 2:40.572 2:41.100
3. R. Suresh 5 2:41.750 2:42.224
4. Muhammad Faisal Yahya 98 2:42.682 2:42.932
5. Sellaperumal Krishnan 64 2:44.575 2:45.562
Supersports
POS. NAME COMP No BEST TIME 2ND BEST TIME
1. Wilairot Rathapong 9 2:15.962 2:23.673
2. Suhathai Chaemsap 82 2:17.382 2:18.364
3. Suhadi Ali Rahmat 6 2:17.702 2:20.192
4. Ahmad Fazli Sham 64 2:19.651 2:19.696
5. Muhammad Farid Badrul Hisam 11 2:19.690 2:22.258
Superbikes / Superstock
POS. NAME COMP No BEST TIME 2ND BEST TIME
1. Muhammad Zamri Baba 66 2:29.533 2:34.492
2. Yasuhiro Kuhara 13 2:34.988 2:42.850
3. Mohamad Syahhas Shahidan 36 2:37.223 2:38.687
4. Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman 51 2:38.103 2:43.726
5. Norhisham Mohd 41 2:40.118 2:46.804
Top 5 Qualifying – Cars
Classic Cars
POS. NAME COMP No BEST TIME 2ND BEST TIME
1. Bertie McCrory 7 2:24.624 2:24.636
2. Daniel Bilski 59 2:27.370 2:27.957
3. Mike Ricks 9 2:35.013 2:39.642
4. Paul Winklemann 38 2:36.462 2:36.511
5. Jeffrey Moo 68 2:36.575 2:36.643
Supersixteen
POS. NAME COMP No BEST TIME 2ND BEST TIME
1. Damien Dielenberg 11 2:36.276 2:36.625
2. Mohd Faizal 76 2:38.816 2:39.671
3. Winston Eu 18 2:40.866 2:41.673
4. Kok Pak Chiang 36 2:41.936 2:43.715
5. Khair Nur Ariff 8 2:42.665
