KUALA LUMPUR: Japan's Yuki Takahashi capped a perfect weekend as he notched a double victory at the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) SuperSports 600cc series in Thailand after emerging victorious in race two today.
The Musashi Boon Siew Honda Racing rider, who qualified on pole, finished the race in 26 minutes and 50.020 seconds while compatriot Tomoyoshi Koyama (T.Pro Yuzy Honda NTS) and Indonesian Ahmad Yudhistira (Manual Tech KYT Kawasaki) came in second and third on 26:58.507s and 26:58.933s respectively.
Crowd favourite Ratthapong Wilairot (AP Honda Thailand), who challenged Yuki in the early stages, crashed out of the race with 11 laps remaining.
Yuki said he was happy with the win but felt sorry for Ratthapong. The latter had finished second in race one behind Yuki yesterday.
"It was an extremely difficult race with Ratthapong being very fast. He had a strong pace and you could tell he was pushing hard to win in front of his home crowd," said Yuki.
"But I guess the pressure got to him and that's when he crashed at turn five. It was unfortunate and I feel sorry for him.
"From there it was just me alone and I gave my absolute best right to the end. Credit to the team who prepared a great bike this weekend."
Yuki currently leads the overall championship standings with 127 points. Round five of the ARRC will be held at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on Oct 3.