Mixed fortunes for PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda riders at MotorLand Aragón as Toba suffers a crash, Azman secures P22, and wildcard Norrodin gains valuable experience ahead of the season finale.
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The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team wrapped up Round 10 of the FIM Supersport World Championship at MotorLand Aragón, with riders Kaito Toba, Syarifuddin Azman, and wildcard Ibrahim Norrodin showing determination despite a challenging Race 2.
After all three riders completed consistent runs in Saturday’s Race 1, the team entered Sunday with optimism. Under dry and sunny skies, the 15-lap Race 2 began at 12:35 local time, but fortune proved uneven across the garage.
Japan’s Kaito Toba, starting from 21st, dropped back in the early laps but fought back strongly, leading his group as he tried to close the gap to the midfield. His charge ended abruptly on lap eight with a crash at Turn 8. Though uninjured, Toba was forced to retire.
Toba: “We used the warmup to try to improve the front end feeling. In the race, I lost a couple of positions at the start, but I was soon able to recover them. I was suffering along the long straights but then making up ground in the mixed part of the track. I was part of a group that went all the way up to twelfth position and was pushing to move through the field when unfortunately, the front locked, and that ended my race. We’ll give it another go in Estoril in two weeks’ time.”
Malaysia’s Syarifuddin Azman made steady progress from the start, climbing two places in the opening lap. Locked in battle with his rivals, the rookie kept a cool head and delivered consistent lap times, eventually crossing the line in P22, his strongest finish of the weekend.
Syarifuddin Azman #63: “I want to say a big thanks to the team for working so hard to make me more confident on the bike. Like yesterday, it was hard along the back straight, but I tried to maintain my pace, quicker today than in Race 1. I’m quite happy to finish P22 but we need to keep working so that we can continue to improve the results.”
Wildcard Ibrahim Norrodin approached the race with a focus on gaining experience aboard the Honda CBR600RR. After adjustments to his bike setup during warm-up, the young Malaysian gained three positions to finish in P28, recording his fastest lap of the weekend along the way.
Ibrahim Norrodin #67: “My data guy made a change on the bike with respect to Race 1 and I could already feel the difference in warmup. I was able to make a good start to the race and felt that the setup was definitely better. I was able to set my fastest lap time of the whole weekend too. Thanks to the team for doing such a good job. I know the outright race result is not great, but we did our best all weekend and I felt that we made progress day by day.”
Despite the mixed results, the team leaves Aragón with valuable data and motivation ahead of the season finale. Toba remains 25th in the overall standings with 12 points, while Azman continues to push for his first championship score.
The WorldSSP season will conclude with a double-header in Portugal and Spain, beginning at Estoril (October 10–12) and followed by Jerez (October 17–19).
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