Asia Road Racing Championship

The Asia Road Racing Championship was first organized in 1996 as part of an Asian-wide initiative boost the development of the sport of motorcycle racing in the continent. The championship received the endorsement of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM, "International Motorcycling Federation") in 1997 and has been recognized since as the Asian continental championship for the FIM. The commercial rights are owned by Two Wheels Motor Racing, with FIM Asia as the sports sanctioning body. The 2020 season consists of seven rounds with two races organized per round. == Circuits ==

The championship tours in Asia but is open to riders from all nationalities. The Asia Road Racing 2024 season will consist of 6 races at 5 circuits in 5 Asian countries. • Round 1, 15–17 March 2024, Thailand, Chang International Circuit • Round 2, 19–21 April 2024, China, Zhuhai International Circuit • Round 3, 7–9 June 2024, Japan, Mobility Resort Motegi • Round 4, 26–28 July 2024, Indonesia, Mandalika International Street Circuit • Round 5, 13–15 September 2024, Malaysia, Sepang International Circuit • Round 6, 6–8 December 2024, Thailand, Chang International Circuit Other venues that had previously hosted the Asia Road Racing Championship included: • Shah Alam, Malaysia, Shah Alam Circuit (1996, 2001–2002) • Bogor, Indonesia, Sentul International Circuit (1996–2000, 2002–2018) • Batangas, Philippines, Batangas Racing Circuit (1996) • Nakhonchaisee, Thailand, Thailand Circuit (1996–2001) • Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, Johor Circuit (1996–2004, 2006, 2008, 2016–2017) • Chennai (Madras), India, Madras International Circuit (1997, 2009–2011, 2013, 2017–2018) • Subic Bay, Philippines, Subic International Raceway (1997) • Fukuoka, Japan, Autopolis (2009–2014) • Doha, Qatar, Losail International Circuit (2010–2015) • Donggang, Taiwan, Penbay International Circuit (2012) • Suzuka, Japan, Suzuka International Racing Course (2013–2019) • Dankaur, India, Buddh International Circuit (2016) • Tailem Bend, Australia, The Bend Motorsport Park (2018–2019) • Murata, Japan, Sportsland Sugo (2022–2023) == Current broadcasters ==

Worldwide Live coverage, on-demand, and highlights for free practices, qualifications, and races is available on Asia Road Racing Championship's official Facebook page and Youtube channel, as well as Bikeandrace.com. Asia-Pacific == Winners by race class ==

1996–1999 The road racing series began on 2-stroke engines. 2000–2003 The gradual shift to 4-stroke engines began in 2000 when the SuperSports 600cc class replaced the previous 250cc bikes as the premier class of the championship. 2004–2005 2006–2014 2015–2018 2019–2021 2022– == Notable achievements ==

The Asia Road Racing Championship is a mix of well-known riders racing against upcoming talents from the Asian region. Some of the big names that have contributed to the growth of the sport of road racing in Asia include Katsuaki Fujiwara, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Yuki Takahashi and Noriyuki Haga. In 2016, Anthony West was the latest addition in the roster of internationally recognized names. For the 2019 season, Australian racers who have participated in both MotoGP and World Superbike take part in the series, they are Broc Parkes, and Bryan Staring. This formula of pitting upcoming talents against seasoned campaigners have resulted in a number of successes. In recent years, riders from the Asian region are beginning to make their breakthrough into the MotoGP arena. These include: • Shahrol Yuzy Ahmad Zaini (250cc, 1996 to 2002) • Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Moto2, 2013 to 2015) • Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (Moto2, 2011 to 2017; MotoGP, 2018 to present) • Thitipong Warokorn (Moto2, 2013 to 2015) • Rafid Topan Sucipto (Moto2, 2012–13, 2018) • Doni Tata Pradita (GP250cc, 2008; and Moto2, 2013) • Dimas Ekky Pratama (Moto2, 2019) • Khairul Idham Pawi (Moto3, 2016; Moto2, 2017 to present) • Hiroki Ono (Moto3, 2013 to 2016) On 4 to 11 July 2016, five young riders from the Asia Production 250cc class became the first batch of riders to be trained at the VR46 Academy in Italy as part of the Yamaha|VR46 Master Camp. They were Peerapong Loiboonpeng (21, Thailand), Imanuel Putra Pratna (19, Indonesia), Galang Hendra Pratama (17, Indonesia), Soichiro Minamimoto (16, Japan) and Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin (16, Malaysia). == See also ==