Round 3 Bira Race day 25th September, 2011

[KTMphil]

Round 3 - Motorcycle Mag. racing, Bira Race Track, Pattaya, Thailand, 25th September, 2011

Gorgeous umbrella girl was at this race day, helping to promote the new mini GP bikes that were at the Bira Race track Pattaya, Thailand, why not start with that.




Some pretty exciting racing, here an authentic Moto GP 2 bike chasing no. 77



Another photo of the delicious umbrella girl



Kawasaki ZX10 at the track, which claims to be the most powerful production 1,000cc bike

BMW 1000 RR at Bira track

Admiring Colin's new-to-him Honda CBR 1000 RR, which had already been tricked out for racing

Colin's CBR 1000 RR

Luke Honda CBR 1000 RR. He missed being able to use his new carbon wheels by about an hour - post office called just too late to say they'd arrived.

 

[KTMphil]

One more of the umbrella girl




Looks like this guy had a spill in practice the day before

Look closer

This guy too

Barry Russell in the media room at Bira Race track

Final computer tuning before qualifying

Tingnote's Bike, one of the stars of the Pannada racing team

Bira track

 

[KTMphil]

Bira track pavilion

Nice color scheme, very eye-catching

One more of the umbrella girl to keep it interesting




Bike in the paddock

 

[KTMphil]

Luke (left), Coin (right), both on Honda CBR 1000 RR's battling it out in the SB3 class, Luke eventually won, Colin was second - I'll get the full results from Barry or Colin

Tingnote from the Pannada Racing team, one of the best riders in Thailand, in the SB1 class

Colin & Luke from the rear

Opening ceremony

Kawa ZX10 getting his knee down

Luke getting his down as well

Moto 2 GP bike at Bira

 

[KTMphil]

Some more shots of the bikes on the track

Moto 2 GP bike

 

[KTMphil]

some more photo's

Vintage race bike

Colin Butler

Last one of the umbrella girl

 

[KTMphil]

Uphill






Tingnote left chasing no.50 in qualifying

 

[KTMphil]

There is also a large Go-Kart track at the Bira Racetrack that runs a super moto series







Umbrella girl with the head of Asia products who have been developing the mini Moto GP race bike

 

[barrygrussell]

Report originally published on FMSCT-Live Blog and reproduced here by kind permission

'Tingnote' Tithipong Warokorn continued the dominant form he had shown in testing and qualifying to take an emphatic victory in the Motorcycle Mag Superbike SB1 Professional race at Bira International Circuit.

Panadda Racing's 22 year-old star rider wheelied over the line almost six seconds ahead of main rival 'Stamp' Apiwat Wongthananon, who in turn was 14 seconds ahead of his Elf Smart teammates 'Superbird' Saen Choisak and 'The Bell' Aekkachai Chiengwong, who was a further 12 seconds in arrears.

The first three laps featured a nail-biting battle between Tingnote and Stamp, who took the early advantage, but when the white Honda hit the front, the 17 year-old could not respond to the superior pace of the more experienced rider. He was also hampered by restricted hip movement after two heavy crashes over the weekend, though Tingnote was in such imperious form, it is unlikely to have affected the final result.

While the race for the first four places turned into a strung out affair, there was a good race for fifth on the road between Surakit, Chartree and Wisanu and an even closer four-way battle behind them between Aksawin, Krit, an injured 'Kob' Chareangkeat and Hans Meuhlebach whose Moto2 Suter took the Supersport class honours as the rivals crossed the line with just over one second between them.

Tingnote looks to be in a class of his own now, which begs the question of where he should race next year. Rumours from earlier in the year of him going to Moto2 seem to have faded as the IRTA deadline for world championship team nomination is just days away. Given the high barriers to entry in MotoGP, World Supersport would seem a logical step to help him realise his potential. As for his young rival, a place in Moto3 is said to have been made available to Stamp in 2012, so news will be watched carefully to see whether two of Thailand's best domestic racers can break onto the international stage.

Classified Results

SB1
1. Tingnote Tithipong Warakorn
2. Stamp Apiwath Wongthananon
3. Superbird Saen Choisak
4. The Bell Aekkachai Chiengwong
5. Surakit Likhitpongpat
6. Wisanu Chaimongkaltip

SB2
1. Chartree Kongpattananon
2. Narve Hoel
3. Aksawin Kongtonpaisan
4. Krit Peangkeaw
5. Kob Chareangkeat Shairdeaw
6. Paitoon Wanapongtipakorn
7. Paul Adams

Supersport
1. Hans Meuhlebach
2. Kevin Taylor

Fastest Lap
Tingnote Tithipong Warakorn: 1:03.350

 

[barrygrussell]

Great photos, Phil that capture the atmosphere of a really good day's racing.

A couple of really important things you missed though, mate ...

 

[KTMphil]

Luke Stokes (center top), Colin Butler (left), delicious umbrella girl (bottom right)



Photo: Thairidersclub


Looks like that front tire around Luke's neck will be perfect for his Fireblade

 

[barrygrussell]

Originally published on FMSCT-Live Blog and reproduced here by kind permission

YSS Racing’s ‘Sup’ Anucha Nakcharoensri followed up his win at Thailand Circuit a week earlier by taking a thrilling victory over 'Tingnote' Tithipong Warakorn at Bira International on Sunday 25th September.

Although Sup had taken pole position by 0.265s, it was Panadda Racing’s ‘Tingnote’ Tithipong Warakorn who got the best start from the outside of the front row to lead the first three laps, with Sup pressing him hard. With the Panadda CBR250 engine having a clear power advantage, a fascinating battle ensued, as Sup’s superior corner speed enabled to him to press his rival through the bends and get into the lead before losing out on the straight sections. In the end Sup made it count by getting in front on the last lap and out-weaving Tingnote to the chequered flag.

Six seconds further back, Jakkrit took third place, three seconds in front of a fight for fourth that was won by Sitthisak from Suhathai.

The fourth and final round of the Motorcycle Mag Moto3 Production Championship will be held at Bira on 20th November.

 

[barrygrussell]

Originally published on FMSCT-Live Blog and reproduced here by kind permission

Luke stokes takes Motorcycle Mag SB3 win at Bira

In the Motorcycle Mag Round Three meeting on Sunday, the Superbike SB3 Novice category provided more interest than usual because it saw the Bira International debuts of Canadian Colin Butler and Englishman Luke Stokes.

The two came to road racing as recently as May this year and caused a sensation with lap times they were achieving in the R2M SuperNaked series they have been dominating at Thailand Circuit, before extending into Superbikes. Their first appearance on the SB3 grid at Nakhonchaisri saw them take a one-two with race times that would have put them on top of the SB2 podium.

With the two running immaculate looking Honda CBR1000RRs, many of Bira's superbike regulars were seen clocking the pair in testing and qualifying and sure enough, with unofficial times in the 1:07s, they were again amongst the SB2 lap times even as they worked on getting their bikes set up for the unfamiliar circuit.

It was Stokes who edged pole position with a time of 1:07.673, 0.089s ahead of the Canadian, who was in turn 2.8 seconds of the Kawasaki of Katsuhisa Nagata and the Yamaha R1 of Weerayut Sawan, himself a two times SuperNaked podium finisher.

Butler made the best start and led into the first bend, before Stokes slipped through into the lead, with Nagata and Weerayut leading the rest of the field. After three laps of formation flying by the two leaders, a fuelling problem on Butler's Honda caused his engine to cut out on the fast double-apex right-hander at the back of the circuit and he was forced to ease off, leaving Stokes clear to take the win by 12 seconds. Behind Butler, Weerayut got the better of his Japanese rival with two laps left to produce a repeat of the previous week's R2M SuperNaked podium at Thailand Circuit.

Luke Stokes commented, "I knew Colin would be difficult to pass, so I made a very early move into the lead and expected a battle, so it's a shame that he had a problem and dropped back. I'm happy with the win, though and the bike set-up for Bira is definitely going in the right direction."

Colin Butler added, "The engine cut out as I went into Maxima, which was pretty scary, so I had to back off and manage the gap back to third. We'll get the problem fixed and be back on the pace next time."

While you can never be sure who will turn out for the SB3 class, this round saw a very strong entry list, with 15 bikes on the grid and the first seven finishers all recording lap times below 1:11.00, which will push them up into the SB2 class at the next meeting on November 20th.

 

[KTMphil]

Thanks for the report Barry. Congrats to Luke & Colin, who's lap times keep getting faster and faster.

 

[Stokes70]

Phil thanks for the awesome photos, and thanks for the write up barry.
I had a wicked weekend, was great fun learning the track and the bike, and really looking forward to what is gonna be a hell of a SB2 race on november 19/20th.

Cheers all!