Ryuichi Kiyonari has added another domain to his list of conquests in a dramatic and unexpected turn of events during the season finale of the 2012 Petronas Asia Road Racing Championship held under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit yesterday..
Touching down in Doha 16 points behind rival and championship leader Katsuaki Fujiwara, the margin seemed almost too big to overcome with only two races left in the season. A lacklustre performance during the free practice and qualifying sessions placed him fifth on the starting grid while Fujiwara qualified for pole position. However, Fujiwara's blazing qualifying time of 2:06.398s hid a very real problem with rear tyre degradation.
As the red light went off for the first race, Kiyonari's team mate Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman stole the hole shot into Turn 1. But Azlan was unable to choreograph a break from the group. By Lap 3, team PETRONAS Hong Leong Yamaha Malaysia's Zamri Baba had slipped into the lead and proceeded to pull away with Azlan in second position, Kiyonari third and Fujiwara fourth. In a strong show of teamwork, Azlan graciously allowed Kiyonari into second position on Lap 9 and proceeded to guard Kiyonari's flanks which in turn gave the 3-times BSB champion the opportunity to break away cleanly. Azlan engaged Fujiwara in a fierce six lap battle that ended with Azlan pipping Fujiwara to the finish line.
As the Azlan-Fujiwara battle caught everyone's attention, Zamri Baba raced to his second victory of the season with a time of 31:56.614s, 3.528 seconds ahead of Kiyonari. Azlan narrowly skips on to the last step of the podium, 0.029 seconds in front of a frustrated Fujiwara. As a result, Kiyonari was now only nine points behind Fujiwara.
In Race 2, clutch problems denied Zamri a chance to duplicate his victory earlier in the day. Both Malaysian riders started off strong but were unable to stop Kiyonari from taking the lead on Lap 8. In the seven remaining laps the two MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing team mates rode a 1-2 race to the finish line, Kiyonari in first place with 31:46.882s, Azlan in second with 31:51.155s and Zamri completed a solo ride in third place with 32:02.011s. Behind the winning trio, fourth-placed Yuki Ito had caught up to and overtaken the struggling Katsuaki Fujiwara.
"Pressure got the best of me in Race 1. Initially the plan was to pace myself and reserve the tyres for the few final laps but everybody went all out from the start. I did my best to catch up but the gap between me and Zamri was too big. Of course I was disappointed but I did not give up. In Race 2, I set aside all thoughts on the Championship crown and just focused on winning. It took a while for me to realize that I had won the title when I crossed the finish line first," said Kiyonari.
He went on to add, "Our hard work paid off and I would like to express my thanks to everyone on the team, Honda, sponsors, family and friends for all their support. I am extremely happy to win the title!".
The final points count of 2012 saw Kiyonari on top with 231 points, Fujiwara second overall with 226 points and Zamri Baba third overall with 197 points. In the team standings, team MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing jumps up to the top of the table with 254 points, leaving team Manual-Tech BEET Kawasaki Racing in second overall with 238 points and team PETRONAS Hong Leong Yamaha Malaysia in third overall with 197 points.
