Doha: Thailand’s Muklada Sarapuech celebrated her first Asia Dream Cup double win and extended her championship lead as she took victory in Race 2 of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship penultimate round at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.
The only female rider on the grid, Muklada ran a perfect final lap to end the race in 17’54.554s after an all-out battle with Japan’s Yusuke Nakamura and Hiroki Nakamura who finished as runner-ups with 17’54.632s and 17’54.694s.
China’s Zhou Sheng Jun Jie who was also in the front mix took his career’s best finish in the Honda developmental series in fourth place while Hafiz Nor Azman made up for his crash in Race 1 with fifth place.
Hauling 50-points from this weekend, Muklada tightens her championship lead with 186.5 points ahead of grand finale at her home track, the Chang International Circuit in Thailand in December.
Hiroki and Yusuke however still stand a chance to spoil Muklada’s championship hopes, as they are only 24 points and 32 points adrift.
 “No words can describe how happy I am to take my first double win here in Qatar!” said an elated Mukalada. “I did not think it was possible but the engineers prepared a great setup and that gave me an added advantage over the field, especially down the front straight. Even so, I had to work very hard to keep pace with the frontrunners.”
Speaking about her expectations for the final round in Thailand, Muklada commented, “There is a lot of pressure to win the championship at my home race despite having a comfortable gap over Hiroki and Yusuke. Mainly because I believe anything can happen and not to mention there is still another 50-points up for grabs.”
“Nevertheless I will do my best to make Thailand, my team, sponsors, family and friends proud in December,” she said.