Riding the Yamaha R1 for the first time this weekend, Indian rider Rajini Krishnan had a roller coaster weekend at the first round of the 2018 Malaysia Superbike Championship. The highlight of the weekend, however, came in the form of his dominant victory in the opening race of the season.
Race 1 began on a damp Sepang track, with all the riders going out on wet tyres. Rajini made a subdued start from 3rd place on the grid but made up time on the brakes into turn 1, allowing him to hold his position. He climbed up to 2nd place halfway through the first lap, before taking the lead at the final corner. Rajini then pulled out a lead of 2.5sec in the subsequent lap, eventually going on to win the 12-lap race by a mammoth 12sec.
Rajini had a more eventful afternoon, riding Race 2 on slick tyres. He found himself in the gravel trap at turn 1 and fell back all the way to 18th position. Having bravely remounted, Rajini eventually climbed back up the order and finished in 5th place.
He will be aiming to bounce back during the second round of the championship, which is scheduled to take place between 27-29 July.