Qualifying and Race 1 of the fifth round of the Asia Road Racing Championship was held in typically hot conditions for Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat qualified with his best to start from fourth with Andi Farid Izdihar just behind in fifth. Zaqhwan Bin Zaidi struggled with his setting to finish ninth.

In the opening race of the weekend the three riders all made a good start to be in front group. After two laps, Nakarin made his move into third to take a podium spot. Andi fought hard until the final corner to snatch a fourth place finish by just 0.1 seconds, whilst Zaqhwan continued to close the gap to those in front, rising to cross the line sixth.

All the three riders set almost exactly the same best laptime: a 2m 07.1s.

Race two gets underway tomorrow, and with three races remaining this season Andi leads the championship standings by eight points, with Nakarin fourth and Zaqhwan seventh,

Nakarin Atiratphuvapat #41 – QP : P4 / Race1 : P3

"In race 1, I pushed too much in the beginning and it was difficult to find my braking point. My pace was not so bad and I just needed to start well and try to follow the leaders. Tomorrow I will try some new settings in warm up, and hope to make the bike turn easier, then I'm sure we can fight with the front group for the win."

Andi Farid Izdihar #23 – QP : P5 / Race1 : P4

"Today was a very tough race, and qualifying also. I still didn’t have the best set up and, in the race, at the beginning I was really struggling. Finally though in the last part of the race I had a good feeling, but not enough to go on the podium, but I collect important points for the championship so tomorrow is another day and another big chance to give the best!"

Zaqhwan Zaidi #21 – QP : P9 / Race1 : P6

"So, in the qualifying it was not so good as I was really struggling with the bike setup. We tried some changes but not in a good direction and finally we could only qualify 9th. Before the race I just tried another setup and to make a big change and finally the race was good, even if I make a mistake in the start, as I could recover to catch front group. In the last four laps I had some trouble with the front tyre and I almost crashed two times, so finally I just maintained P6 for this race. After the race we checked the front tyre and it was a puncture. I was feeling so good and able to go fast but this is racing anything can happen. Anyway, thanks for all support."

Makoto Tamada - HADR Team Manager

"From qualifying to race 1 and our three riders and the team did their best. However, they were unable to handle the high track temperature today. We tried different setups from qualifying to the race, and we were able to get some positive data for race two tomorrow. Nakarin made it to the podium and Andi is further ahead in the championship. Zaqhwan is also feeling better than he did in Qualifying. We will do our best tomorrow to win."