By Yash Mudgal/Doha

Japan’s Ryuichi Kiyonari wrapped up the 2012 PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) SuperSports 600cc title as the defending champion Katsuaki Fujiwara saw his hopes ended when he failed to finish on the podium in the round six races of the championship at Losail International Circuit last night.
Three-time British Superbike champion Kiyonari delivered superior pace on his Honda to outshine his rivals to win his first Asian title as he overall clocked 31:46.882 in the final leg of the championship. However, he did not have an easy win as he had to battle hard for the chequered flag with Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman of Honda, who overall clocked 31:51.155 and Yamaha’s Mohamed Zamri Baba, who finished second and third respectively in the race.
Kiyonari tops the overall standings with 231 points, while Fujiwara finished in the second spot with 226 points. Malaysia’s Zamir Baba claimed he third spot with 197 points. Overjoyed to end the season with title victory, the Japanese national said, “It was really a tough race for me, but I am happy to finish as the title winner.
 “It was after the first race today, which I finished at the second spot, I realised that if I can push hard in the second race I can win the race and the title,” Kiyonari said. “I am very thankful to my Team Honda for providing superb bikes during the championship,” he said.
Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman said, “It’s nice to finish on podium at the last race of the championship along with Kiyo. I am more happy for Kiyo as he won his first Asian title in his first attempt.” Kiyonari’s compatriot and the defending champion of Manual-Tech BEET Kawasaki Fujiwara finished fourth and fifth in the last two races of the championship. It was very disappointing for the Kawasaki rider, who is holding six-point overall lead over his nearest rival Kiyonari before the last leg failed to deliver on the last day after so much hard work throughout the year.
Kiyonari, who was the hot favourite to wrest the crown from Fujiwara this season, took momentary control of the championship after a highly successful weekend in China, host of round three of the championship. But the tables were turned in the round four in Japan when problems with handling caused Kiyo to miss out on the podium, while Fujiwara sped ahead to grab a double win on the Kawasaki home track.
The characteristics of the circuit and new tyre ruling proved the catalyst to halt Fujiwara’s onward progress. The Kawasaki had never really gotten good results on technical tracks that require nimble handling. On the other hand, this type of track layout, which is fairly similar to the smaller British racetracks, is something that would be second nature to Kiyo who has spent the better part of his career racing in the British Superbike Championship.
Qatar’s Nasser al-Malki finished at 25th spot. Meanwhile Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa’s dreams of concluding the season second overall came true when he chalked-up a double win in the Underbone 115cc. The Pachie Yuzy Honda Racing brought his winning momentum from Taiwan (Round 5) to dominate Race 1 in style, completing it with a total time of 18:32.635s, fending of Malaysian compatriot, Norizman Ismail by 0.130 seconds (Harian Metro Y-TEQ SCK Honda Racing) in second place with 18:32.765s.
Completing the podium was Ferlando Herdian (Yamaha Yamalube KYT R9 Tunggal Jaya) with 18:32.820s. Amirul further complimented his success with another victory in race 2 within 18:26.461s ahead of Rey Ratukore (Nissin R9 KYT Federal Oil BRT) second Mohd Affendi Rosli third.
Each rider timed 18:26.486s and 18:26.526s, respectively. Hauling 50 points from the season finale, Amirul seals the runner-up position with 165 points while Rey dropped third with 161 points. “No words can describe how happy I am to finish this season second overall. I did not think it was possible to reach this point because this is only my second year competing in the ARRC. The victory tastes even sweeter that I signed off the season with three consecutive wins,” said an estatic Amirul.