India's Sarath Kumar, recovering from a knee injury, scored his first point in the Asia Road Racing Championship when he finished 15th in the first of the two SuperSport 600cc races here over the weekend.
Having qualified 20th for the first race on Saturday, Chennai-based Sarath Kumar, supported by Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India, Ten10 Racing and WOW Digit HK, gained places in the wake of retirements of riders ahead of him and finished 15th which won him his first point in the ARRC this season.
In the second race, Sarath, riding for T-Pro Yuzy NTS Honda Racing team, finished 17th to complete a satisfying weekend after missing the first round in Malaysia, skipping both races in Thailand and taking just one start in Japan, as he improved his lap times with each outing here.
Summing up the weekend, Sarath said, "I am very happy with the progress and this is the first time I was able to the ride the bike to its fullest potential. I am still having problems with my knee which bothers me towards the end of the races, after about 10 laps. However, it is a good sign that the recovery is happening."
"I have managed to get closer to the experienced guys with about five seconds off pace in my first full race weekend. I think I will be in good shape for the India round in October. We have already planned a few training methods to improve my confidence and performance on the bike as from this point, it is about learning the nuances and tricks of riding a bigger bike which not the same as riding a 250cc.
"The team T-Pro Yuzy NTS Honda Racing with WOW helped me a lot especially my team owner Yusuke Teshima who just returned from the Suzuka 8-Hour race and also my teammate Tomoyoshi Toyama who gave a lot of inputs," he added.
"Now I am lot more excited and preparing for my home race in Buddh International Circuit on the 1-2 October. Once again, a long break and I will be working hard on my recovery and more practice to get to good pace at the BIC."
--IANS
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