Asia Talent Cup: Hamada Wins Out in Intense Qatar Season Opener

The 2020 IDEMITSU Asia Talent Cup got underway on the Saturday of the MotoGP Grand Prix of Qatar, and the first race of the weekend and the season took an unusual path.

A typical Asia Talent Cup race is similar to Moto3, with a big front group of between 10 and 20 bikes all battling for the win. This year’s ATC opener in Qatar, however, was different. 

Taiyo Furusato made the holeshot from a pole position he took by 0.8 seconds. It was a stunning jump by the Japanese ATC rookie, which gave him an immediate advantage over the rest of the field, and with the advantage he displayed in qualifying, it was a worrying time for his competitors. 

It took just half a lap for Furusato’s advantage to be erased, however, as he was joined at the front by second-year ATC rider, #8 Kanta Hamada, and the pair spent the rest of the race pulling away from the rest of the pack.

The duel between the Japanese compatriots was fierce at times. Furusato was comfortable in front, and Hamada looked content to stay behind the #15 rider for the majority of the time. Furusato’s advantage in qualifying perhaps meant that Hamada was happy to allow his fellow countryman to pull him along, and Hamada himself showed himself capable of staying in the tow.

But on the few occasions Hamada did go through, Furusato struck straight back, and possibly this was his undoing. After over half the race, Furusato had been unable to break clear of Hamada, and so when Hamada came through perhaps it would have been beneficial for Furusato to sit behind his more experienced compatriot and let Hamada lead for a while, to learn the weak and strong points of his rival.

As it was, the battle held some resemblance of Marquez versus Quartararo battles from 2019, where the Spaniard would study the Frenchman for almost the whole race before pouncing at the end. 

In this case, Hamada was able to understand that if he was behind Furusato coming out of the final corner, he would be able to slipstream past his rival by the line, and the #8 used this perfectly on the final lap to win by 0.032 seconds, and take the championship lead into the second race tomorrow. 

Furusato was disappointed with second place having led pretty much uninterrupted since the start, but it should be a good opportunity to learn for the Japanese youngster, who certainly has the speed to be able to challenge for the overall championship.

Eleven seconds back of the lead duel was Syarifuddin Azman, the Malaysian having a lonely ride to third, five seconds ahead of Gun Mie and Shoki Igrashi, another Japanese pair who fought race-long for fourth with the former coming out on top. 

Sixth place went to the Malaysian Sharul Sharil, who beat Masaya Hongo, Rei Wakamatsu, Carter Thompson, Max Gibbons and Mikail Salih in what was a six-bike train separated by just over one second at the finish line.

Harrison Voight crashed on the first lap in turn six. He was thought to be one of the few riders who had the speed to take the fight to Furusato, but as it was he finished over one minute down in twelfth and last in what was a severely diminished Asia Talent Cup field. 

Finally, the Turk Keleb Satici did not start, but should be ready to line up for the second race.