OFFICIAL PROGRAMME
18 ) Takuma Aoki , Akira Ryo and Keiichi Kitagawa all took sensational single local wins in Japan over the years . In WorldSSP racing Katsuaki Fujiwara was a six time winner , no less , but the highlight for the non-Japanese riders from what was once called the ‘ Far East ’ was the full-on race win for Ratthapark Wilairot on his Core PTR Honda CBR600 at the first ever WorldSBK weekend at the Chang International Circuit in his native Thailand . We thought the roof of the brand new media centre was going to fall in when he won the inaugural WorldSSP race in 2015 . The noise was indescribable and all-in it was an unforgettable moment for everyone , not just the local fans in Thailand , standing proudly at their all-new circuit . And it is of course not all about Japan , Malaysia , Thailand … Indonesia has had its own early chapters inside WorldSBK before the welcome return this weekend . There have been ten different Indonesian riders who have entered a WorldSBK round , the most successful having been four times race starter Yudha Simon Kosuma , between 1995 and 1997 . He scored points in 1997 , riding a Kawasaki at Sentul . Ah , Sentul , more of that later … Six Thai riders have also ridden in WorldSBK , four Malaysians , one Chinese and one Singaporean . If we expand Asia to its fullest commonly held expanse then Turkey and Qatar must be included in our recollections of great Asian influence in our championship . For Qatar there is much more WorldSBK history involved in the racetrack at Losail than in the three Qatari riders who have taken part in WorldSBK races . For Turkey , unless this really is your first exposure to WorldSBK ( in which case , welcome , dive straight in ) there have been two major figures that it is impossible to speak about in terms of Asian WorldSBK and WorldSSP importance . The greatest WorldSSP rider of all time is , of course , Kenan Sofuoglu . In 126 starts he won 43 races and had 85 podium rides . He was the one from his racing family chosen to go to Europe and try to become world champion , first in Germany and then on the global stage in Superstock racing . A step up to WorldSSP and the rest is history . Five World Championship in all - and there could have been more had he not moved up to WorldSBK for half a year and then went to Moto2 for a semi-successful period , scoring one podium at Assen . But inside WorldSSP , first on Ten Kate Hondas and then more than one team ’ s Kawasakis , there has never been a more successful or more competitive individual in 600cc racing . A strong statement , of course , but look at the career statistics and ask his rivals how difficult it was to beat him . He even came back for a one-off ride this season , in Free Practice . And he was still fast !
The exotic Italian Bimota brand mostly used Yamaha and then Suzuki engines in its various models ( Ducati and BMW were the other engine , from Europe , to be entirely even-handed ).
EXCITING CONTENT
And now , right now this season , even after such a strong force as Kenan struggled in his WorldSBK rides , Turkey - and therefore Asia - has its very own megastar , a rider who draws so much attention despite being a naturally calm and quiet person off the bike that MotoGP™ wants him to join the biggest paddock of all very soon . His growth from the FIM not WorldSBK Superstock classes through to Superbike has been assured and impressive , winning as a Kawasaki privateer and as a first-time Yamaha factory rider in the opening round of 2020 . This year he has often been on a different level , with bike able to match his talents at almost every single race . Like any potential World Champion , a bad weekend is ‘ merely ’ full of podium finishes , rather than race wins . With a 30 point lead over six-times and reigning WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea , Toprak has to be the favourite to win the title at the all new circuit in Indonesia . If he does , it will be nothing short of a remarkable weekend on all fronts , with the first Asian-born winner taking the title at an Asian racetrack - however far Lombok is from Turkey ! It may not happen at all , of course , but if it doe it would a ‘ last ’ final round of a winning season , and first , the first Riders ’ championship for Asia . At this moment in time , arguably the biggest impact Asia has had in WorldSBK terms is in providing top venues to compete at .
As you may have noticed already , we are discounting Australia and Oceania from this feature , as they form their own continent in many ways . From the sense of Asia only we have already visited tracks as geographically diverse as Istanbul Park and Sentul , Losail and Sugo . The last time we went to Asia and an all-new circuit was in 2015 , when we raced , in the city of Buriram , in Thailand . WorldSBK raced there for five consecutive seasons . Highlights from Chang included almost all race wins going to new Kawasaki signing Jonathan Rea , with only Tom Sykes ands Chaz Davies taking wins from him until Alvaro Bautista grasped three wins in one weekend during his amazing start to the 2019 season for Ducati . That triple treat for Alvaro in 2019 was the last visit there for WorldSBK . We went to Istanbul Park for a single year in 2013 , the magnificently appointed circuit seeing Eugene Laverty win two WorldSBK trophies for Aprilia - and yet still not be the biggest star of the day . Local megastar Kenan Sofuoglu took his Kawasaki to a close and amazingly determined WorldSSP Race win over Sam Lowes . Somehow Sofuoglu managed to overhaul Lowes by just 0.040 seconds , sending the huge crowd in the grandstands into raptures of patriotic joy . Like Wilairot ’ s home town win in Buriram in 2015 , it was an experience everybody was glad they had witnessed , wherever they came from .
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