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A historic win at the Le Mans | This Week In Motorsports
All the action from Asians in global motorsport, this week.
Ananya Srinidhi, Hitesh Vasvani & Maheeka Bubna
June 18, 2025
Aaand it has begun! A month of back-to-back endurance championships from Le Mans to Nurburgring to Spa. Add in the spice from single seaters with F1’s European season kicking off at the end of the month — we’re in for a treat.
This weekend, however, we couldn’t be prouder of the 9 drivers of Asian heritage take the world stage by storm. We’ve added multiple “firsts” to the list: Yifei Ye becoming the first Chinese winner and Jack Aitken now holding the fastest lap ever recorded around Circuit de la Sarthe - it’s been crazy good and it’s only getting better.
British Kart Championships
Sukhmani Khera Shows Speed, But Sunday Slips in British Karting’s Welsh Weekend
Via Sukhmani Khera on Instagram
At the picturesque yet technical Glan Y Gors circuit in Wales, the British Kart Championship’s Junior X30 category delivered another weekend of wheel-to-wheel action—where Sukhmani Khera of Fusion Motorsport showed promising pace but left with mixed results.
Saturday saw steady progress from Khera. Starting mid-pack in both heats (P16), she climbed to P13 in Heat 1 before a standout drive to P5 in Heat 2. That effort translated into a P10 classification for the final, where she held her ground to finish P11, capping off a solid day of consistent upward movement.
On Sunday, Khera began with a strong grid position (P5) in both heats but dropped slightly to P7 in both outings. Still, she secured a P6 spot in the second final classification, setting the stage for a strong race. Unfortunately, things didn’t go her way—after starting P6, she dropped back in the final to finish P20, ending her weekend on a tougher note.
ROK Cup Asia
ROK Cup Asia Round 4 Showcases Southeast Asia’s Brightest Karting Talents in Indonesia
The ROK Cup Asia returned for an electrifying Round 4 over the weekend in Indonesia, gathering some of the region’s top karting talents across multiple competitive categories. With packed grids and close racing, the event once again cemented itself as a key battleground for rising motorsport stars in Southeast Asia.
In the Shifter ROK category, Mohammad Fariz Habibie took top honours, fending off stiff competition from Andre Pramana and Muhammad Syaiful Qudus.
The Junior ROK class saw a dominant performance from Poomsit Klombunjong, followed closely by Danish Irwan Chen Ruiyi and Micah Vino Satrio.
Over in Mini ROK, Michael Vino Satrio emerged victorious, with Muhammad FA Wibowo and Rex Alexander Syamour rounding out the podium after a tightly fought race.
The combined Senior ROK & Expert category delivered thrilling wheel-to-wheel battles, with Presley Martono taking a commanding win ahead of Daffa AB and Kimi Rae.
(Results are based on provisional classification)
Japan Cup
Clean Sweeps and Class Wins in Japan Cup at SUGO
Image: GTWCA Image Pool
The 2025 Japan Cup opened its season at Sportsland SUGO in Murata, Miyagi, with a weekend showcasing consistent front-runners across GT3, GTC, and GT4 categories.
In GT3, Akita and Takashi Kobayashi (No. 18 Team UpGarage) claimed pole in Race 1 but couldn’t convert it to a win. That honour went to Ukyo Sasahara and Shinji Takei (No. 9 Bingo Racing) in the Pro/Am class, while Hirokazu Suzuki and Tadao Uematsu (Team Macchina) topped the Am field. Race 2 flipped the script, as Sasahara and Takei took pole but ceded the Pro/Am victory to Yuya Motojima and Yudai Uchida (Mac Racing). Still, Team Macchina’s Am-class dominance remained untouched with a second straight win.
The GTC category was all about Tiger Wu, who swept both poles and Am-class wins in the No. 888 Bingo Racing Ferrari, uncontested in Pro/Am.
In GT4, Toyota Gazoo Racing Indonesia’s Haridarma Manoppo and Seita Nonaka put on a clinic—securing both poles and wins in the Silver/Am class, showing strong form for the title fight ahead. Meanwhile, Betty Chen and Yoshichika Nagai (No. 97 K-tunes Racing) doubled up on Am victories, signalling consistency in the crowded midfield.
Rally-2W
MRF Mogrip National Rally Championship – 2W
Image: Godspeed Racing (instagram)
Round 2 of the MRF Mogrip National Rally Championship – 2W took place in Nashik on June 14th and 15th, drawing top two-wheeler rally talent from across the country. With a competitive mix of factory and privateer entries across 10 categories, riders tackled challenging terrain in pursuit of national glory.
Rajendra RE topped the Super Bike Pro Expert (Class 1) aboard a TVS RTR 450, while Sanjay S. took victory in Super Bike Expert (Class 2) riding a KTM EXC-F. In the Super Sport up to 165cc (Class 3) category, Nithyan L. led the field with his TVS Apache RTR 160, and Imran Pasha secured the win in Class 4 (165cc–260cc) on a TVS RTR 200.
Rajesh N. Swami emerged victorious in Class 5 (260cc–460cc) with a KTM Duke 390. The Scooter Class (Class 6) saw Syed Asif Ali dominate on a TVS Ntorq, while Aishwarya P. claimed top honors in the Women’s Class (Class 7) riding a TVS RTR 200.
In the Super Stock categories, Jagadeesh led Class 8 (165cc–260cc) and Chetan Hosatti won Class 9 (260cc–460cc), both delivering strong performances on Hero Xpulse and KTM ADV machinery respectively. Finally, Clinton J.C. clinched victory in Class 10 (Star of Maharashtra) on a Hero Xpulse.