In pretty much the first ever time that India got to see the Underbone 115cc category, Malaysia’s  Md.Affendi Rosli claimed valuable 45 points for winning the first race and being runner up in the second to be placed as the Championship Leader with a tally of 99 points.

It was good outing for the Malaysians in the Underbone 115 CC races as Md.Iskandar Raduan, who was in fourth spot before the event here, did creditably well to push himself to the second spot on the Points Table.  Gaining 36 points from this event, Iskandar was placed at second spot with 88 points and Indonesia’s Fitrianjsyah Kete of U Mild U Biker’s Racing Team, is third with 78 points for four rounds.

The three Indian entries, riding TVS Neo underbones, did not fare too well. Karthik and Harry finishesd 18th and 19th respectively while Vishwa had a torrid weekend which ended with a crash. He was taken to the hospital as he went into a fence. The three were riding as independant entries as the TVS factory did not enter an official team.

Race 1

In the Underbone 115cc first race, Mohd Affendi Rosli of Malaysia riding a Suzuki representing Harian Metro SCK Racing displayed grit and determination almost right from the beginning until he took to the chequered flag in style followed by Indonesians Denny Triyugo and Florianus Roy.

Rosli, who is occupying the third spot in the leader board with 52 points did show technical skills at his young age of 24, especially during the closing stages of the race. 

“My vehicle was getting heated up and I did not want to put too much pressure.  Therefore, I had to apply caution in my riding and meanwhile, the tyre grip was also lacking.  I had to find the balance in these two and was steadily lying in the third or fourth positions close to the finish of the race.  However, I saw a good opportunity for me to push myself and I started looking for space.  I had to wriggle out of the bunch in the last four laps by third lap, I was sure, I could forge in front, which of course, I achieved in last but one lap and held on till the finish”, Rosli said on his race at the mandatory press conference.

Setting up a best lap time of 2:02.063 seconds and touching a speed of 109.4 KMPH, Rosli took 20.39:326 secs for the ten lap race, while Triyugo (Petronas FDR Racing-Yamaha) clocked 20:39.685 secs and Florianus Roy (U Mild U Bikers Indonesia Racing Team -Yamaha) finished the race in 20:39.846 secs.   

Beginning the race at grid four, Rosli waited for an opening as the pole leader Hokky Krisdianto of Indonesia on a Yamaha of Petronas FDR Racing Team had a good start but all his seven followers were bunched together as was witnessed in the earlier three rounds of the championship in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Though Krisdianto remained the front runner, Thailand’s Prawar Yannawut (Petronas Sprinta Yamaha team), who was lying in the fourth place progressed to be behind his compatriot and showed great opportunism to forge ahead in the seventh lap.  Then on, the positions amongst the top three kept changing.

Rosli was on his elements shifting from third to fourth lap after lap but his leaders could not deny him the space. Making good of an opening by Yannawut, Md. Iskandar Raduan of Malaysia pushed himself to the front ahead of both Yannawut and Rosli.  Here, the top four riders were challenging each other and were very close to each others wheels but luckily they avoided any incident especially on the turns. 

Since then, it looked to be a race to be won by any of the top four including Denny Triyugo of Indonesia.  Coming in to the straights at the end of 14 laps, Yannawut and Triyugo were shifting top two positions.  Meanwhile, Rosli managed to come past the Indonesians and never looked back before taking the chequered flag.

Race 2

The second race witnessed greater competition amongst the top three Malaysian riders, who took to the top three positions. Md.Iskandar Raduan made amends to his lapses in the first race to clinch the top position and Rosli, improved upon his Championship Table status by finishing second, while Malaysia’s Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (Petronas Sprinta Raceline) came third. 

Iskandar made steady progress and forged ahead and never surrendered his initiative before finishing the race first with a timing of 20:38.718 secs and Rosli, who came second took 2:02.497 secs.  Abdullah came third with a timing of 20:39.181 secs.