Apr 18, 2012
2012 MFJ All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round Two: Racer Takumi Takahashi takes first place on the MuSASHi RT HARC-Pro, supplied with Akebono brake system!
Round two of the MFJ All Japan Road Race Championship Series for the JSB1000 class was held on April 15 (Sunday) at Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture, Japan. MuSASHi RT HARC-Pro (rider: Takumi Takahashi, Honda CBR1000RR), to which Akebono supplies braking system, captured victory.
Takahashi, who finished second in the official qualifying session the previous day, was in third place in the first lap of the race, which started under a clear blue sky. During a fierce competition amongst the top 3 racers, a gap opened up for a brief moment in the third lap and Takahashi was able to overtake the other two riders. From that point onward, Takahashi exhibited a stable riding performance, gained a lead of 1.6 seconds ahead of the second place rider and reached the goal for the victory. This was Takahashi's third career win since being promoted to the JSB1000 class and his first win at Suzuka.
After the race, Takahashi commented, "I'm really thrilled about the win. This time I tried to ride calmly throughout the entire race. In the opening race I was too excited and wasn't able to maintain stable lap times, so I failed to win the race. Anyway, in this race I focused on consistently maintaining about the same lap times on average and I constantly paid attention to the lead I had from the riders behind me. The ability to ride calmly led to a victory today. My goal is to be the series champion and I hope to be able to continue riding strong."
After the end of the round two race, both Takahashi and the MuSASHi RT HARC-Pro team were ranked in the top spots based on rider points and team points.
The next race is the 2012 MFJ All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round Three race, which will be held May 12 (Saturday) and 13 (Sunday) at the Tsukuba Circuit in Ibaraki Prefecture, and Takahashi is expected to flourish once again.
Akebono participated in the JSB1000 class, the top category of the All Japan Road Race Championship Series, from 2004 through 2008. After a two year hiatus, the company resumed its efforts to provide brake systems beginning with the 2011 season. Akebono is also providing the brake system of the MuSASHi RT HARC-Pro for the 2012 season as well.
