Event Name: 2021 Tsukuba Road Race Championship Series Round 1
Date: Saturday, March 6, 2021
Venue: Tsukuba Circuit, Ibaraki Prefecture
Rider/Race Results
IA ST600 Class #98 Abe Maiki
Qualifying: 8th in class / 9th place overall
Final: Retire
NA ST600 Class #31 Aota Kai
Qualifying: 5th in class / 14th place overall
Final: 5th in class / 13th place overall
Race Report
In the first round of the Tsukuba Road Race Championship Series held at the Tsukuba Circuit, [Maiki Abe] competed in the IA (International) Class ST600 for the first time since his promotion. In his first 600cc race, Kai Aota competed in the NA (Japanese) class ST600.
Maiki Abe was lapping at a better time than expected, but he crashed at the first corner on the 6th lap. It became the retirement regrettably, but it became a fruitful race that was able to prove the power of oneself by running with All Japan class.
Kai Aota suffered a shoulder injury when he crashed in the qualifying round and was unable to increase his pace in the race. Kai still has a lot of work to do, but he is still in the early stages of the ST600 class, so we can expect a lot of growth from him in the future.
The next round of the MFJ All Japan Road Race Championship Series will be held at Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture on April 3rd and 4th. [Keito Abe] as well as [Maiki Abe] will be in the game! Please give us your support for this hot race between our two rivals!
Maiki Abe
2021 Tsukuba Road Race Championship Series Rd.1 IA ST600 Class
Qualifying: 8th in class / 9th place overall Final: Retire
Aota Kai
2021 Tsukuba Road Race Championship Series Round 1, NA ST600 Class
Qualifying: 5th in class / Overall: 14th Final: 5th in class / 13th place overall
Comment from Director Mitsuo Abe
The first round of this year's Tsukuba Road Race Championship was held on March 6th. Although there was a forecast of rain on the 6th, we were blessed with good weather and it was even hot. This time, Maiki Abe will be competing in the IA (International) Class ST600 for the first time since his promotion, and Kai Aota will be competing in the NA (Japanese) Class ST600 for his first 600cc race. With a total of 23 entries (11 in IA class and 12 in NA class), the qualifying rounds were mixed.
Maiki started training on the 3rd, and Kai started on the 4th. Keito Abe also joined the training on 4th and 5th.
4 days.
On the second day of practice, Maiki set a personal best time of 58.4 seconds in his second run, and his growth was evident as he was able to make consecutive runs in the 58-second range.
Kai set a personal best time of 1 minute 1.8 seconds in the first run, and just when he thought he was about to make his move, he crashed at the last corner. He was not injured, but the damage to the motorcycle was so severe that we had to cancel the second run and work quickly to repair it in preparation for the test on the 5th.
5 days.
Maiki tried to break 57 seconds, but it was not easy and he stopped at 58 seconds.
Kai high-sided at the second hairpin of the first race and avoided falling but hit his right shoulder on the front screen. Because of the pain, I ran the second sports run in the morning and the first special sports run, but I canceled the second run and bet on the race on the 6th.
And qualifying on the 6th.
Maiki had to avoid a fall of the machine in front of him and went off the course, so he couldn't find his rhythm in the short 12 minutes, stopping at 58.818 seconds, which was the 6th fastest time, but he had to ignore the white flag and start from 9th on the grid, demoted 3 places. Kai's shoulder was still sore and he couldn't run as fast as he wanted to, so he was 14th overall with a time of 1:02.681.
The race started just after 2pm. Kai had a good start, moving up to 5th and running faster than his qualifying time, but a front tire slip at the first corner on lap 6 while running in 4th caused him to crash. I was able to return to the pits, but it was just the end of the day. Kai's shoulder pain prevented him from increasing his pace, but he still managed to finish the race in 13th place overall and 5th place in his class.
This time, Maiki set a new personal best, and although he crashed out of the race, he was able to prove that he can bring out his potential by riding in the All-Japan class, and it was a fruitful race week. It was a tough race for Kai because of his crashes and inexperience, he could not ride the way he expected. But if you look at his training, such as his motard speed, he has a lot of talent and I expect him to grow in the future.
Thank you very much for your support. We look forward to working with you in the future.
Photo by Ishizaki Nobuki
Original Source [ Webike Motosport ]
