Great opening round for Aussie youngsters in ATC season opener

2024 Asia Talent Cup Round One
Grand Prix of Qatar

Race One

The 2024 Asia Talent Cup season kicked off alongside MotoGP over the weekend in Qatar.

Japan’s Zen Mitani took a dominant win, seven-seconds clear of his nearest competitor. Riichi Takahira finished second as rookie Seiryu Ikemgami earned a brilliant podium finish.

Mitani took pole position a few hours prior but it was a rapidly launching Ryota Ogiwara who grasped the holeshot with both hands on Saturday, as the Japanese duo immediately got the hammer down.

The gap grew to four seconds before Ogiwara – the race leader – crashed at the fast Turn 12 to hand Mitani a lonely lead. Thankfully, Ogiwara was straight back up on his feet, but it was a disappointing early exit from the race.

From there, it was all about the fight for P2 and P3. Mitani’s advantage was extending lap by lap but a fascinating battle was unfolding between Farish Hafiy, Takahira, Ikegami, Kiandra Ramadhipa, Kiattisak Singhapong, Rintaro Takemoto and Levi Russo. Seven riders all with a shout of a podium finish.

Coming on the last lap, Hafiy led the group but on the exit of Turn 13, the Malaysian made a small mistake. It was enough to see him drop out of the podium positions though and with two corners to go, Takahira now held the P2 baton.

Mitani cruised over the line to earn those glorious 25 points, Takahira won the race for P2 as Ikegami just held off Ramadhipa for a debut podium.

The latter – Ikegami’s fellow rookie – was just 0.010s shy of a podium in Qatar, as Singhapong settled for P5.

Hafiy was strong throughout but it was P6 in the end for the #19, as Takemoto crossed the line in P7 just 0.6s away from P2.

Levi Russo, Sarthak Chavan and Alfonsi Daquigan completed the top 10 in the opening race of the season.

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Achie Schmidt 11th and Rikki Henry 12th.

Race One Results

Race Two

It was déjà vu as the lights went out on Sunday as Ryota Ogiwara bagged the holeshot from the middle of the second row, with polesitter Mitani slotting into P2 – just as he did around 24 hours earlier. This time though, the duo couldn’t pull clear of the pack as a lead group of six quickly formed at the front.

The lead was changing regularly before drama unravelled at Turn 1 after a handful of laps. Farish Hafiy was late on the brakes and as Ogiwara – the race leader – tipped his Honda towards the apex, the duo collided. Thankfully, both riders were on their feet but it was race over for the pair.

This left four riders dicing for the win: Ramadhipa, Mitani, Takahira and Singhapong. As expected, the fight came down to the last lap, and as Mitani and Takahira battled each other on the exit of Turn 10, Ramadhipa snuck through to the lead.

After expertly executing the final sector, Ramadhipa held off Mitani for the win, with Takahira claiming the final podium spot in P3. Singhapong was just 0.4s away from the victory but missed out on a rostrum in P4.

Another brilliant battle played out in the race for P5 and winning that contest was Rikki Henry. The Australian rookie securing a fantastic top five finish.

Rikki Henry

“I rode up to the grid feeling a bit more confident than race one, but I didn’t start off so good as I went to take off my bike slipped out of gear and I dropped back from 11th to 17th. But I wanted this so bad, and I knew I had it in me. The pack wasn’t too far ahead, and I could see I was pulling them in. I just rode. Head down, but up and elbows in. I was doing it, and I made my way up to the second pack. Wow, it’s happening. After a few battles, I passed a couple of riders (that were not backing down), and I managed to cross the line in fifth. I went from 17th to fifth so to say I’m happy with this result in an understatement. This puts me in eighth for the championship. Huge shout out to the Asia Talent Cup team all mechanics that help out to make it happen. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this happen, especially my dad, who is by my side at every round, and my mum and Jax for still being my biggest supporters from home.”

Sarthak Chavan, Levi Russo, Rama Putra, Alfonsi Daquigan and Archie Schmidt were in that fight and finished inside the top 10.

Achie Schmidt

“Managed to stay with the second pack. Finishing round 1 in 10th position overall. Thank you to the coaches, mechanics and everyone else behind the scenes, I’m learning so much.”

So after the first two races of the season, Mitani leads the way on 45 points, seven clear of Ramadhipa. Takahira’s two podiums puts him nine points adrift as we now look forward to the Grand Prix of India for Round 2.

Race Two Results

Asia Talent Cup Standings after Round One