HISTORY OF THE PETRONAS SPRINTA YAMAHA INDONESIA RACING TEAM

The fact that we steadily won races, and secured National Championships since 2001 (see attached Table for the remarkable roster of our wins) impressed manufacturers and suppliers, and from 2002 Benny gained sponsorships, enabling him to source racing parts (such as 'tailor-made' exotic suspension and brake components) from specialized firms internationally.

It was only natural, and in harmony with the ASEAN spirit of regional business cooperation and cultural exchange, that Star Racing would become a candidate for major sponsor support, in the effort to build a competitive racing team in the large-displacement, multi-cylinder road racing class.

The FIM Asian GP road racing series is organized each year by the Asia Motorcycle Union (UAM) on tracks across the region. A country’s tuners, riders and manufacturers compete on production-based machines, under the supervision of and with promotion by Two Wheels Motor Racing Sdn. Bhd. of Malaysia.

Racing big bikes is both expensive and demanding, and this is doubly true when teams must travel, with their equipment, to faraway nations. One of the best-known and most respected major sponsors is PETRONAS, the national energy company of Malaysia, operating through their Motorsport Division, known as PETMOS

(PETRONAS MOTORSPORT), which over the years has bestowed backing on teams in GP250 and Formula I.

PETRONAS has already sponsored racing teams from Germany, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and many other countries and it was only natural that they should extend sponsorship to an Indonesian team with a proven track record of multiple victories: Star Racing was their choice.

The initial sponsorship granted in 2007 was for Star Racing's ‘Yamaha PETRONAS FDR Racing Team’, and its riders won every event they entered in the Indonesian National Underbone Championship – after missing the first Indoprix event for reasons beyond the Team’s control.

Having swept the Yamaha Cup Race Championship in all classes two years in a row, Star Racing was in a favourable position for pioneer sponsorship in the big-bore class: the FIM Asian GP series. Running for longer than a decade, this is the premier prestige class of road racing for the Asian region.

PETRONAS determined to offer Star Racing a three-year sponsorship, in a contract signed with PETRONAS and Yamaha Indonesia. We were thus able to form the PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha Indonesia (PSYI) Race Team in early 2008. The choice of Team machines was the 2008 Yamaha YZF-R6, as Star Racing was still under contract with Yamaha Indonesia.

The YZF-R6 was actually by far the most popular motorcycle entered in the FIM Asian GP Series, as it has become known as a fast and reliable competitor, backed with steady support from the manufacturer.

Yamaha Indonesia agreed to provide sponsorship to PSYI with the presentation of four brand-new 600cc YZF-R6 motorcycles, fitted with the latest YEC-Kit, specially created for the new YZF-R6; ours were soon clothed in familiar PETRONAS green and white colours.

The selection of riders for the new PSYI team was not nearly as simple. While there are a number of talented, experienced road racers with multiple victories to their names, it was thought that not all would be able to make the extreme transition from a 125cc underbone motorcycle, weighing 80kg and with a top speed of 140kph, to a four-cylinder model, whose physical bulk, weight of 160kg and top speed of some 260 kph presented a very unique challenge. The team of two riders would need to work in balance and cooperation, and for this reason Star Racing management decided to pair a veteran with a newcomer, the objective being for the more experienced rider to mentor, guide and provide a rôle model for the novice big-bike rider.

Popi Sugianto has raced in collaboration with Star Racing since 2000, and won national championships for Star Racing in 2001 and 2003. He had already become somewhat familiar with heavy, large-bore motorcycles, as he had been invited to test-ride at Johor Bahru in 2003. Popi had also gained a degree of experience in 600cc racing, taking part in Indonesian Championship events.

Sudarmono was spotted by Benny D.U. (Star Racing Director) and chosen because of his fierce racing style and aggressive determination to win. At just 22 years of age he also has years ahead of him, time enough to master Grand Prix racing techniques.

Sudarmono has showed his fighting spirit by riding a PSYI R-6 to a respectable 6th-place finish at his second outing on the new machine, falling off four times at the first outing but getting back on and trying harder to learn control and develop style. Thanks to disqualifications, Popi was awarded 2^nd Place in that event, an important psychological boost for the new team.

The initial overseas outing for PSYI was the FIM Asian GP event at Sepang Circuit, Malaysia, on 11~12 July 2008. Customs clearance for the motorcycles was delayed, meaning that our two riders unfortunately missed the first day of Free Practice.

Nevertheless Popi and Sudarmono both managed to post respectable qualifying times, in the middle of the pack, and finished the race without incident…