20th May, Sepang  - Australian Brent Odgers, winner of the Superbike title in 2003, scored a double victory at the opening round of the Malaysian Super Series (MSS) biking competitions with Malaysian Lee Ching Hooi struggling to keep up with the top riders.

Overall winners in 2004 and 2005 and riding a Kawasaki ZX10RR for the first time, Ching Hooi admitted that his new machine did not have the pace and acceleration to match the powerful Honda CBR1000cc ridden by Odgers and his M-Sportsbike teammate Omar Ali Abdullah.

"The Kawasaki bike is also new to me and I am still in the processing of getting familiar to its characteristics," said Ching Hooi, dimissing any suggestions that he was still affected by the major crash in November 2005 that forced him to temporarily stop racing.

"I am not giving any excuses. But, overall I am happy with my performance as well as the performance of the bike though it is clear that we need to improve to match our rivals," said the Kawasaki Malaysia Racing top rider.

Riding for Naza PanGlobal Racing Team, Ching Hooi crashed during practice for the final round; breaking his right ankle, which required seven screws to be implanted. Fortunately for him, the title was already in the bag as he was forced to stop racing until April this year.

With defending champion Ahmad Fuad Baharuddin watching from the pits, Norway's Nils Uchida Zakariassen and India's Dillip Roger stamped their class in the 600cc Supersports by securing the top two spots in today's races.

Both mounting similar Yamaha R6 machines, Zakariassen was crowned as overall winner of Round 1 by virtue of winning Race 2 though he and Dillip - winner of the opening race - remained tied at the top of the standings with 45 points with four more rounds to go.

Unable to compete due to inavailability of a racing bike, Fuad noted that it would be difficult for him to make up for the lost ground; but stressed he would do his very best to retain his title.

"My bike had already been shipped to Indonesia for the upcoming FIM Asian Grand Prix in Sentul. The team tried hard to prepare a second bike; but it was difficult to due time and financial constraints," said the Petronas Yamaha Team Raceline rider.

With two-time champion Steve Ewan of Britain not defending his crown this season, Malaysian Chia Khoo Keat took centrestage with a double victory; beating Filipino Vittorio Fabregas to second place in both races.

Mohd Rizal Jantan was a class above his rivals in the 150cc Kawasaki Cup; scoring a double victory to immediately charge of the championship with 50 points with local rider from Sepang Hadi Jembik coming second two third-places and 32 championship points.

In the absence of defending champion Ahmad Azhar Abdul Hamid, close rival Ahmad Nashrul Baharuddin took full advantage to dominate both races to score a perfect 50 points.

Ahmad Azhar, who injured himself in a cub prix race last weekend, would be desperate to get himself back on the saddle to resume his title challenge in his bid for a hattrick this season.

Round 2 for a five-round 2007 Malaysian Super Series biking competitions would be held on June 9 and 10 while the second round for cars would be held next weekend on May 26 and 27.

MALAYSIAN SUPER SERIES - BIKES ROUND 1
Race Results - Sepang Circuit North Track (2.706 kilometers)

OPEN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

Race 1 (15 laps)
1. Brent Odgers (Honda CBR1000) 17:24.404s
2. Jussi Hoikka (Suzuki GSXR1000) 17:29.044s
3. Omar Ali Abdullah (Honda CBR1000) 17:34.068s
4. Lee Ching Hooi (Kawasaki ZX10RR) 17:35.800s
5. Norhisham Mohamad (Yamaha R1) 17:42.112s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1. Brent Odgers (Honda CBR1000) 17:29.174s
2. Omar Ali Abdullah (Honda CBR1000) 17:29.468s
3. Jussi Hoikka (Suzuki GSXR1000) 17:35.991s
4. Lee Ching Hooi (Kawasaki ZX10RR) 17:41.672s
5. Norhisham Mohamad (Yamaha R1) 17:42.189s

Standings:
1. Brent Odgers (50 points),
2. Omar Ali Abdullah (36 points)
3. Jussi Hoikka (36 points)

600cc SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP

Race 1 (15 laps)
1. Dilip Roger (Kawasaki ZX6RR) 18:09.115s
2. Nils Uchida Zakariassen (Yamaha R6) 18:09.951s
3. Pretham Moses (Yamaha R6) 18:15.841s
4. Massimo Nanni (Yamaha R6) 18:22.064s
5. Karl de Souza (Yamaha R6) 18:28.694s

Race 2 (15 laps)
1. Nils Uchida Zakariassen (Yamaha R6) 18:04.094s
2. Dilip Roger (Kawasaki ZX6RR) 18:09.090s
3. Pretham Moses (Yamaha R6) 18:27.875s
4. Karl de Souza (Yamaha R6) 18:30.872s
5. R. Ambavalvanan (Yamaha R6) 18:36.541s

Standings:
1. Nils Uchida Zakariassen (45 points)
2. Dillip Roger (45 points)
3. Pretham Moses (32 points)

250cc APRILIA CUP

Race 1 (12 laps)
1. Chia Khoo Keat (Aprilia RS250) 15:31.835s
2. Vittorio Fabregas (Aprilia RS250) 15:44.421s
3. Charanjit Singh (Aprilia RS250) 15:52.131s
4. Mohd Anuar Salleh (Aprilia RS250) 15:52.312s
5. Emmanuel Jebaraj (Aprilia RS250) 16:06.599s

Race 2 (12 laps)
1. Chia Khoo Keat (Aprilia RS250) 15:35.528s
2. Vittorio Fabregas (Aprilia RS250) 15:35.909s
3. Mohd Anuar Salleh (Aprilia RS250) 15:47.204s
4. Mohd Rahim Amon (Aprilia RS250) 15:49.245s
5. Emmanuel Jebaraj (Aprilia RS250) 15:51.143s

Standings:
1. Chia Khoo Keat (50 points)
2. Vittario Febregas (40 points)
3. Mohd Anuar Salleh (29 points)

150cc KAWASAKI CUP

Race 1 (10 laps)
1. Mohd Rizal Jantan (Kawasaki ZX150RR) 13:29.460s
2. Renganathan Krishnan (Kawasaki ZX150RR) 13:40.313s
3. Hadi Jembik (Kawasaki ZX150RR) 13:40.616s
4. Mohd Rofazal (Kawasaki ZX150RR) 14:03.662s
5. Muhammad Fairuz Murad (Kawasaki ZX150RR) 14:14.576s

Race 2 (10 laps)
1. Mohd Rizal Jantan (Kawasaki ZX150RR) 13:30.152s
2. R. Suresh (Kawasaki ZX150RR) 13:36.987s
3. Hadi Jembik (Kawasaki ZX150RR) 13:37.262s
4. Muhammad Fairuz Murad (Kawasaki ZX150RR) 13:42.389s
5. Renganathan Krishnan (Kawasaki ZX150RR) 13:55.257s

Standings:
1. Mohd Rizal Jantan (50 points)
2. Hadi Jembik (32 points)
3. Reganathan Krishnan (31 points)

135cc PRODUCTION BIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

Race 1 (10 laps)
1. Ahmad Nashrul Baharuddin (Yamaha RXZ) 13:30.536s
2. Mohd Rizal Jantan (Yamaha RXZ) 13:35.262
3. Safrizan Buang (Yamaha RXZ) 13:36.795s
4. Mohd Rafi Mohd Naser (Yamaha 125Z) 13:47.018s
5. Mohd Khanafi Kamaruddin (Yamaha RXZ) 13:56.322s

Race 2 (10 laps)
1. Ahmad Nashrul Baharuddin (Yamaha RXZ) 13:28.942s
2. Mohd Rizal Jantan (Yamaha RXZ) 13:32.001s
3. Safrizan Buang (Yamaha RXZ) 13:34.607s
4. Mohd Khanafi Kamaruddin (Yamaha RXZ) 13:49.009s
5. R. Suresh (Yamaha 125Z) 13:49.476s

Standings:
1. Ahmad Nashrul (50 points)
2. Mohd Rizal Jantan (40 points)
3. Safrizan Buang (32 points)


For details, contact the Press Officer Azhar Ghazali at 019-3837865.
 

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