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), SuperSports 600cc, Asia Production 250cc and Underbone 150cc. 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.[1]
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.[2]
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.[3]
- Round 1, March 15–17, 2024, Thailand, Chang International Circuit
- Round 2, April 19–21, 2024, China, Zhuhai International Circuit
- Round 3, June 7–9, 2024, Japan, Mobility Resort Motegi
- Round 4, July 26–28, 2024, Indonesia, Mandalika International Street Circuit
- Round 5, September 13–15, 2024, Malaysia, Sepang International Circuit
- Round 6, December 6–8, 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)[4]
- 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.[5]
Asia-Pacific
Spain
All races are streamed through subscription service DAZN.
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,[7] Yuki Takahashi and Noriyuki Haga.[8] In 2016, Anthony West was the latest addition in the roster of internationally recognized names.[9] 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)[10]
- 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)[11]
- Hiroki Ono (Moto3, 2013 to 2016)
On July 4 to 11, 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).[12][13]
Zaqhwan Zaidi
Andi Farid Izdihar
Current season
