R2M SuperBike Preview

barrygrussell

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2011
Location
Bangkok
Bikes
Kawasaki Z800, Yamaha Mio
Originally published on FMSCT-Live and reporoduced here by kind permission

Superbike rivals square up for Round 6

This weekend sees the fourth round of the R2M SuperBike Series and the sixth of the combined R2M/Motorcycle Mag Championship, with intense rivalries from the professional SB1 class through to the novices in SB3.

SB1

The tension between 'Stamp' Apiwat Wongthananon and 'Tingnote' Tithipong Warakornhas intensified with the off-track media campaign Panadda Racing has been waging for the disqualification of the 17 year-old championship leader, following the June 19th kick by Elf Smart Honda’s Stamp as the two riders entered turn one at the Thailand Circuit. On track the two could hardly be closer, with Stamp holding a single point advantage in the title chase and the two unofficially timed as doing mid 1:22s during testing this week. It will also be worth looking behind the two leaders to see whether Saksit Senakhan can find the speed that kept him close to the front earlier in the season and also at Tingnote’s teammate, Wisanu, who is coming quickly through the ranks and has just been promoted to SB1. Meanwhile Charoenkiat Sae Teow, who has been threatening the elite category all season, will bring variety to SB1 with the Dirtshop BMW. And while the younger riders face each other off, multiple champion and Elf Smart Honda team boss ‘Superbird’ Saen Choisak can never be ruled out

SB2

The rookie SB2 class is hosting some very bright prospects, so there will be rivalry all the way through the combined SB1/SB2 grid. Panpund’s Mickey Walker lines up for his second outing along with fellow SuperBike newcomer, ‘The Bell’ Aekkachai Chiengwong, who is also running close to the front of the Moto3 Production championship. The Bell is riding with Superbird and Stamp for Elf Smart Honda and his unofficial testing times make him likely to move into SB1 for the next round. Gaven Purisma will also be in the mix, while the fast improving ‘Beach Boys’, Hua Hin’s John Hughes and Pattaya’s Ben Fortt will be looking to make further progress in their first outings in SB2 at Nakhonchaisri.

SB3

The main interest in the novice class looks as though it will come with the first SuperBike appearances for England’s Luke Stokes and Canada’s Colin Butler, who bring their close rivalry in R2M SuperNaked series to a new level. Amazingly, the two have been lapping in the 1:31s - four seconds faster than the SB3 qualifying limit – on their Kawasaki ER6s after just two rounds of the SuperNaked series. During testing this week they are reported to have been running in the 1:29s, so can be expected to move straight up into SB2 after this weekend. Having watched them closely since they opened their road racing accounts closely, I expect their lap times to improve throughout the weekend. Other newcomers are rumoured to be joining the grid this weekend, so Saturday’s registration will be watched with interest.

Registration is at 8:30 until 10:00am on Saturday. To improve security the registration desk for both R2M SuperBike and FMSCT Road Racing registration desk will be at the entrance to Thailand Circuit where all teams must apply for pit and paddock passes, wristbands and parking passes. The full weekend’s programme is shown below.

FMSCT Thailand Road Racing 2011 Round 6 & R2M Thailand SuperBikes 2011 Round 4
Thailand Circuit,Nakhonchaisri
Time Table
August. 20, 2011


Briefing, Free Practice, Qualifying Practice & Inspections
08:30-10:00 ????????? / Registrations
09:00-10:00 ?????????????? / ??????? / Final Man & Machine Inspections
09.00-09.10 ????????? / Free Practice Honda One make Race
09.15-09.25 ????????? / Free Practice Family 115 CC.
09.30-09-40 ????????? / Free Practice Automatic 125
09.45-09.55 ????????? / Free Practice R2M SuperBikes SB 1,2,3
10.00-10.10 ????????? / Free Practice Moto 3 Production
10.15-10.25 ????????? / Free Practice R2M SuperBikes Classic
11.00-11.30 ????????????? - Riders Briefing

12.00-13.00 ?????????????????

13:00-13:15 ??????? / Timed Practice R2M SuperBikes 1000 Novice [SB-3]
13:20-13:35 ??????? / Timed Practice Honda Click i One Make Race [ A/N ]
13:40-13:55 ??????? / Timed Practice Family 115 CC.
14:00-14:15 ??????? / Timed Practice R2M SuperBikes 1000 Professional [ SB-1 ]1000 Rookie [SB-2]
14:20-14:35 ??????? / Timed Practice Honda Wave i One Make Race [ A/N ]
14:40-14:55 ??????? / Timed Practice R2M SuperBikes Classic 1000
15:00-15:15 ??????? / Timed Practice Automatic 125 ??????????? 19 ??
15:20-15:35 ??????? / Timed Practice R2M SuperBikes Classic 250/400 Division 1+Division 2+ Division 3
15:40-15:55 ??????? / Timed Practice Automatic 125 ??????????? 16 ??
16:00-16:15 ??????? / Timed Practice Moto 3 Production

August. 21, 2011
Warm-up, Final Race, Prize Presentation & Inspections

09:00-10:00 ?????????????? ?????????? / Final Machine Inspections
08:00-08:10 ????????? / Free Practice Honda One make Race
08:15-08:25 ????????? / Free Practice Family 115 CC.
08:30-08:40 ????????? / Free Practice R2M SuperBikes Classic 1000
08:45-08:55 ????????? / Free Practice Automatic 125
09:00-09:10 ????????? / Free Practice R2M SuperBikes SB 1,2,3
09:15-09:25 ????????? / Free Practice Moto 3 Production

?????????????????

Time Race No. Classes Laps Total km.
10:00 [ Warm-up ] Race 1 R2M SuperBikes Classic 1000 10 laps 25km
10:30 [ Warm-up ] Race 2 Automatic 125 ??????????? 19 ?? 10 laps 25km
11:00 [ Warm-up ] Race 3 R2M SuperBikes 1000 Novice [SB-3] 10 laps 25km

12:00 ?????????????????? / Opening ceremony / ????????? / Live Broadcast

Time Race No. Classes Laps Total km.
12:05 [ Warm-up ] Race 4 Honda Click i One make Race [ A/N ] 8 laps 20km
12:30 [ Warm-up ] Race 5 R2M SuperBikes 1000 Professional [SB-1]+1000 Rookie [SB-2] 10 laps 25km
13:00 [ Warm-up ] Race 6 Family 115 CC. 13 laps 32.5km
13:30 [ Warm-up ] Race 7 R2M SupeBikes Classic 250/400 Division 1+Division 2+Division 3 10 laps 25km
14:00 [ Warm-up ] Race 8 Automatic 125 ??????????? 16 ?? 10 laps 25km
14:30 [ Warm-up ] Race 9 Honda Wave i One make Race [ A/N ] 8 laps 20km
15:00 [ Warm-up ] Race 10 Moto 3 Production 13 laps 32.5km
 
Thanks for the info Barry - I got a message from Luke that he's loving his CBR 1,000 RR on the track, the last couple of days.
 
Luke (right) on his Honda CBR 1000 RR for the first time on the track (needs an umbrella girl upgrade), wishing him luck. Colin Butler (right on his Suzuki GSX1000)


luke cbr1000rr.jpg

Photo : Barry Russell
 
Thanks for posting the pic, Phil. Luke and Colin put in sensational lap times all weekend that shocked the SB2 and SB1 regulars and took a convincing 1-2. Absolute class - report to follow.
 
Luke told me he got a 1st on Saturday (21/8/12 - yesterday) - Great job 1st time on the "Blade" on the track.
 
21/8/12 Superbike (1,000cc) / SB3 class results at the R2M Nakhon Chiasi racetrack (60km west of Bangkok)

luke results.jpg



Luke's new-to-him Honda CBR 1000 RR track bike

luke blade.jpg




On the podium (umbrella girl to the left looks pretty fit - great rack)

Left to right : Umbrella girl, Barry Russell, Colin Butler, Luke Stokes, Weeyarut Suwan, "?", Kraitos (R2M track owner), umbrella girl

luke sb podium.jpg
 
Blades rule!!! I wonder if it is the Blade or just the talent of Luke. I would put my money on the rider. Congratulations to Luke.
The Blade is a 4 year old design with none of the electronics of the BMW, Ducati, Kawasaki, Aprilia and so on, but still wins heaps of racing around the world.
The two Australian superbike championship races were comfortably won this week end by the Blade yet many bike mag’s are comparing it to an ageing beauty Queen.
I see the lap times for that Thailand circuit are around the 1.25 mark for what I guess is about a 2.4 kilometer circuit. I think that is a very tight circuit as I have raced on 2.45 kilometer circuits where the lap times are around 54 - 55 seconds.
I would like to see Luke bring it down to Sepang some time and use it how it was meant to be used through 150+ k’ corners and full throttle down both straights. Luke, If you ever need a lift and someone to show you the ropes in Malaysia, call me.

Barry, is there any report media, Thai or English for these events that shows results including times etc.?
 
Umbrella girls from the R2M Nakhon Chiasi racetrack this weekend - all tatted up and sexy - Good choices Kraitos/ Barry!

umbrella girls R2M.jpg

Photo: Kraitos


umbrella girl 2.jpg
 
Short video from the SB-3 race on Sunday

[VIDEO]http://youtu.be/sKWVrFuuxuc[/VIDEO]
 
Welcome to the forum Colin,

Just watched your video - Jesus those 1,000 cc bikes look immense fun on the track.

Now we were talking about yourself and Luke a couple of nights ago & we wonder if the Er-6/ 650 cc class will become unexciting for the 2 of you now? Kind of like racing Ferrari's, then going back to race Ford Escorts? What do you think?



newf said:
Short video from the SB-3 race on Sunday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKWVrFuuxuc
 
The ER6n will always be fun at Thailand Circuit, but it'll be good for both of us to race in SB-2 on the 1000cc because of the extra competition. It kinda of been a runaway for both of us on the ER6n's but there's alot of fast guys in SB-2.

There's just something about the ER6n, being able to blow by most of the 1000cc bikes and the cornering speed. I believe Luke feels the same way that he'll never sell his ER6.
 
Thanks for the write up Barry and the pictures, Me and coling both had a wicked weekend and enjoyed ourselves immensely both on and off the track! :d
Would love to take you up on that offer Brian, riding sepang is a dream of mine... would be good to get the lines from an old hand like yourself..!! :G

Yes riding the Er6s will be a bit of a come-down after trying to tame 170bhp but as colin said the cornering ability of them makes them so much fun, and i still think we can get the times down to sub 1m30s with a few more tweaks and practice.

cheers
luke :RO
 
Congrats to the both of you, nice one. I see the next two rounds are at Bira at the end of Sept. Im going to try and make it down for the weekend.
Will the both of you be entering SB2 next time???
 
The first race at BIRA we can still enter the SB-3 class but if we run under 1m11s we'll have to enter SB-2 for the next race. I don't think that will be an issue as i've already ran 1m09s with only half day practice on the gixxer on shit tires. I'm sure with a few days practice and some pirelli superbike slicks both myself and Luke will be running 1m08s maybe even better.

Colin
 
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