The FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (known as Idemitsu FIM Asia Road Racing Championship for sponsorship reason) is the regional motorcycle road racing championship for Asia, held since 1996.
This championship is part of the production-based category of racing, similar to the Supersport World Championship, British Supersport Championship, AMA Supersport Championship and Australian Supersport Championship. Modified versions of road-going motorcycles available to the public are featured in the race.
The championship is currently divided into four open-make classes – the ASB1000 (Asia Superbikes), ASS600 (Asia Supersports), ASS250 (Asia Supersports 250) and UB150 (Underbone 150). The new Asian Superbikes class revived off in 2019.
Overview The Asia Road Racing Championship was first organized in 1996 as part of an Asian-wide initiative boost the development of the sport of motorcycle racing in the continent. The championship received the endorsement of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM, "International Motorcycling Federation") in 1997 and has been recognized since as the Asian continental championship for the FIM.
The commercial rights are owned by Two Wheels Motor Racing, with FIM Asia as the sports sanctioning body.
The 2020 season consists of seven rounds with two races organized per round.(ARRC)
Circuits The championship tours in Asia but is open to riders from all nationalities.
The Asia Road Racing 2024 season will consist of 6 races at 5 circuits in 5 Asian countries.
Round 1, 15–17 March 2024, Thailand, Chang International Circuit Round 2, 19–21 April 2024, China, Zhuhai International Circuit Round 3, 7–9 June 2024, Japan, Mobility Resort Motegi Round 4, 26–28 July 2024, Indonesia, Mandalika International Street Circuit Round 5, 13–15 September 2024, Malaysia, Sepang International Circuit Round 6, 6–8 December 2024, Thailand, Chang International Circuit
Other venues that had previously hosted the Asia Road Racing Championship included:
Shah Alam, Malaysia, Shah Alam Circuit (1996, 2001–2002) Bogor, Indonesia, Sentul International Circuit (1996–2000, 2002–2018) Batangas, Philippines, Batangas Racing Circuit (1996) Nakhonchaisee, Thailand, Thailand Circuit (1996–2001) Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, Johor Circuit (1996–2004, 2006, 2008, 2016–2017) Chennai (Madras), India, Madras International Circuit (1997, 2009–2011, 2013, 2017–2018) Subic Bay, Philippines, Subic International Raceway (1997) Fukuoka, Japan, Autopolis (2009–2014) Doha, Qatar, Losail International Circuit (2010–2015) Donggang, Taiwan, Penbay International Circuit (2012) Suzuka, Japan, Suzuka International Racing Course (2013–2019) Dankaur, India, Buddh International Circuit (2016) Tailem Bend, Australia, The Bend Motorsport Park (2018–2019) Murata, Japan, Sportsland Sugo (2022–2023)
Current broadcasters Worldwide Live coverage, on-demand, and highlights for free practices, qualifications, and races is available on Asia Road Racing Championship's official Facebook page and Youtube channel, as well as Bikeandrace.com.
Asia-Pacific Country/Region Broadcaster Selected regional channels, online platforms, and social medias Star Sports SPOTV
True4U
Winners by race class 1996–1999 The road racing series began on 2-stroke engines. Year Series Production 250cc (2-stroke) Sports Production 150cc (2-stroke) Underbone 125cc (2-stroke) Underbone 110cc (2-stroke) 1996 Shahrol Yuzy Ahmad Zaini Direk Achawong Somkuan Raemee 1997 Chow Yan Kit Direk Achawong Niphon Saengsawang Eakrach Punbuppha 1998 Youichi Nakajima Direk Achawong Eakrach Punbuppha Amporn Siriphat 1999 Naoto Ogura Direk Achawong Eakrach Punbuppha Surapong Boonlert
2000–2003 The gradual shift to 4-stroke engines began in 2000 when the SuperSports 600cc class replaced the previous 250cc bikes as the premier class of the championship. Year SuperSports 600cc (4-stroke) GP125 (2-stroke) Underbone 125cc (2-stroke) Underbone 110cc (2-stroke) 2000 Chia Tuck Cheong Suhathai Chaemsap Surapong Boonlert Thammanoon Sillapakul 2001 Chia Tuck Cheong Direk Achawong Mazlan Khamis 2002 Toshiyuki Hamaguchi Suhathai Chaemsap Mohamad Hisham Ngadin 2003 Toshiyuki Hamaguchi Mohamad Hisham Ngadin
2004–2005 Year SuperSports 600cc (4-stroke) Underbone 125cc (2-stroke) Underbone 115cc (4-stroke) 2004 Toshiyuki Hamaguchi Ahmad Fazli Sham Fadli Immammuddin 2005 Toshiyuki Hamaguchi Ahmad Fazli Sham Doni Tata Pradita
2006–2014 Year SuperSports 600cc (4-stroke) Underbone 115cc (4-stroke) Underbone 115cc (Under 21) Asia Dream Cup 2006 Toshiyuki Hamaguchi Gilang Pranata Sukma Feizy Juniardith 2007 Decha Kraisart Wahyu Widodo 2008 Toshiyuki Hamaguchi Owie Nurhuda 2009 Chalermpol Polamai Mohd Affendi Rosli 2010 Decha Kraisart Hadi Wijaya 2011 Katsuaki Fujiwara Rafid Topan Sucipto 2012 Ryuichi Kiyonari Hadi Wijaya Hikari Okubo 2013 Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman Hadi Wijaya Hiroki Ono 2014 Zaqhwan Zaidi Gupita Kresna Wardhana Khairul Idham Pawi
2015–2018 Year SuperSports 600cc (4-stroke) Asia Production 250cc (4-stroke) Underbone 130cc (4-stroke) Asia Dream Cup Suzuki Asian Challenge 2015 Yuki Takahashi Takehiro Yamamoto Gupita Kresna Wardhana Muklada Sarapuech Andreas Gunawan 2016 Zaqhwan Zaidi Apiwat Wongthananon Wahyu Aji Trilaksana Hiroki Nakamura Jefri Tosema 2017 Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman Gerry Salim Md Akid Aziz Jomimar Medina 2018 Ratthapong Wilairot Rheza Danica Ahrens Md Helmi Azman
2019–2021 Year ASB1000 (4-stroke) SuperSports 600cc (4-stroke) Asia Production 250cc (4-stroke) Underbone 150cc (4-stroke) 2019 Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman Peerapong Boonlert Andy Muhammad Fadly McKinley Kyle Paz 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021
2022– Year ASB1000 (4-stroke) SuperSports 600cc (4-stroke) Asia Production 250cc (4-stroke) Underbone 150cc (4-stroke) TVS Asia One-Make (4-stroke) 2022 Zaqhwan Zaidi Andi Farid Izdihar Andy Muhammad Fadly Wahyu Aji Trilaksana Vorapong Malahuan 2023 Markus Reiterberger Soichiro Minamimoto Rheza Danica Ahrens Nazirul Izzat Bahauddin Muzakkir Mohamed 2024 Yuki Kunii Apiwat Wongthananon Herjun Atna Firdaus Fahmi Basam Hiroki Ono 2025 Hafizh Syahrin Kasma Daniel Fadillah Arbi Aditama Husni Fuadzy Hiroki Ono
Notable achievements The Asia Road Racing Championship is a mix of well-known riders racing against upcoming talents from the Asian region. Some of the big names that have contributed to the growth of the sport of road racing in Asia include Katsuaki Fujiwara, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Yuki Takahashi and Noriyuki Haga. In 2016, Anthony West was the latest addition in the roster of internationally recognized names. For the 2019 season, Australian racers who have participated in both MotoGP and World Superbike take part in the series, they are Broc Parkes, and Bryan Staring.
This formula of pitting upcoming talents against seasoned campaigners have resulted in a number of successes. In recent years, riders from the Asian region are beginning to make their breakthrough into the MotoGP arena. These include: Shahrol Yuzy Ahmad Zaini (250cc, 1996 to 2002) Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Moto2, 2013 to 2015) Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (Moto2, 2011 to 2017; MotoGP, 2018 to present) Thitipong Warokorn (Moto2, 2013 to 2015) Rafid Topan Sucipto (Moto2, 2012–13, 2018) Doni Tata Pradita (GP250cc, 2008; and Moto2, 2013) Dimas Ekky Pratama (Moto2, 2019) Khairul Idham Pawi (Moto3, 2016; Moto2, 2017 to present) Hiroki Ono (Moto3, 2013 to 2016)
On 4 to 11 July 2016, five young riders from the Asia Production 250cc class became the first batch of riders to be trained at the VR46 Academy in Italy as part of the Yamaha|VR46 Master Camp. They were Peerapong Loiboonpeng (21, Thailand), Imanuel Putra Pratna (19, Indonesia), Galang Hendra Pratama (17, Indonesia), Soichiro Minamimoto (16, Japan) and Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin (16, Malaysia).
See also Asia-Pacific Rally Championship
References
External links
https://asiaroadracing.com/results/ http://www.fim-publicaffairs.com/