Asia Road Racing Championship

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]

The championship tours in Asia but is open to riders from all nationalities.

The Asia Road Racing 2020 season consisted of 14 races at 5 circuits in 5 Asian countries.

• Round 1, March 7 & 8, 2020, Malaysia, Sepang Circuit
• Round 2, May 9 & 10, 2020, Australia, The Bend Motorsport Park
• Round 3, June 27 & 28, 2020, Japan, Suzuka Circuit
• Round 4, July 25 & 26, 2020, China, Zhuhai International Circuit
• Round 5, August 22 & 23, 2020, Thailand Chang International Circuit
• Round 6, September 26 & 27, 2020, Malaysia, Sepang Circuit
• Round 7, November 28 & 29, 2020, Thailand Chang International Circuit

Other venues that had previously hosted the Asia Road Racing Championship included:

• Shah Alam, Malaysia, Shah Alam Circuit
• Bogor, Indonesia, Sentul International Circuit
• Nakhonchaisee, Thailand, Thailand Racing Circuit
• Batangas, Philippines, Batangas Racing Circuit
• Subic Bay, Philippines, Subic Bay International Raceway[3]
• Chennai (Madras), India, Madras Motor Race Track
• New Delhi, India, Buddh International Circuit
• Sepang, Malaysia, Sepang International Circuit
• Fukuoka, Japan, Autopolis Circuit
• Doha, Qatar, Losail International Circuit

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,[6] Yuki Takahashi and Noriyuki Haga.[7] In 2016, Anthony West was the latest addition in the roster of internationally recognized names.[8] 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)[9]
• 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)[10]
• 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).[11][12]

• Official website