Picking up valuable points to keep a slender lead in the title race
Fri, 22nd Feb – The last round of the UAE Sportbike championship was a major disappointment for Surya Raja as he was left with a blown engine on his Yamaha R6 and the championship at stake. Never the less, the Indian was back again this weekend with a brand new Yamaha r6, ready to go head to head with the other riders in the 600 class
Race 1 saw Surya (Raja) get off with a bad start, a mistake which was later followed by more mistakes mid race, which left him way down in the field in 14th place in lap2, but he made an exceptional recovery to pass 10 riders within the next 5laps, but unfortunately the race was red flagged on the 10th lap, and even though he was running 3rd on that lap, he was awarded 4th place overall as the result is taken from the lap previous to the race being stopped.
Raja said: “ I made mistakes, and I paid the price, but I felt I had done a good job fighting my way back up to 3rd spot, even though eventually I was awarded 4th place. But more importantly, the bike is still only about 75% from what it is actually capable of, so the next rounds should be interesting “
Surya makes hard work of the first race after making too many errors from the start
Race 2 was more of a 3 way battle between Tannir, Rob and Surya which lasted throughout all 12 laps.
After getting a decent start off the line, Surya immediately sprang into action and overtook rob for the 2nd place, and then narrowed the gap on Tannir, but in the later stages the sliding rear tire restricted the Indian from getting any closer or make a pass, this not only slowed him down, but also gave Rob a chance to catch up and make a move.
But it was in the last lap, where the young Indian was quick to take advantage of a small mistake by Rob, and Surya eventually managed to finish 2nd, 3.8sec’s behind Tannir.
Raja Said: “ I really enjoyed the close racing with Rob, and it is obviously a better result than what I was awarded previous race. 2nd is not great, but it was much needed.”
Either way, the bike felt better this race, more confidence into the corners, better drive, and from here it will just get better. A big thanks to our small team, Juzar (George) for the much needed technical support, and my father for so much trust and help. I’m sure once the bike has the necessary gadgets installed, we will be much quicker.”
A strong ride in the second race sees the young Indian back on the podium...
So, for the first time out on the new bike, it was a tough day for Raja especially after taking into consideration the bike, which has nothing more than a exhaust pipe and a rear suspension, no power upgrades and running on a “power restricted” American spec engine.
So, a few things to worry about, but Raja seems confident that a rapid bit of tinkering with a bike over the coming weekend, will get the bike on a winning pace and he still leading the championship by a small margin. Raja says now he will be looking for ‘twin-wins’ next round , and extending the championship lead.
