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Charles Hern had high hopes of stamping his mark when he hopped onto the plane that will bring him from his home in Melbourne to the Johor Circuit just over the Singapore-Malaysia border. Malaysia is not a foreign land to this young man who professed his love for the Sepang International Circuit and on the other hand, Johor Circuit is not an unfamiliar ground for him either. Unfortunately, this time around the flu bug found him an easy target and Charles came down with sniffles on Tuesday, three days before Round 4 of the PETRONAS FIM Asian Grand Prix 2008. |
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The 26-year-old made his debut in the Super-Sports 600cc category on a cloudy Friday afternoon where he climbed astride his Yamaha to ride the southern track of Malaysia together with teammates Ambalavanan Rethinan and Kok Chun Kiat of Verity Shogun Bikelab during the first qualifying round on Friday, 18 July. |
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“They’re great guys,” Charles said, referring to the team. “I’ve known them since 2006 when I lived and worked in Singapore. We kept in touch over the years, I received a call from them asking if I’d like to join them for this round. And here I am! I am totally excited as I get a chance to compete against the big guns from Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and host country, Malaysia,” added Charles who was exposed to the world of racing by his father who was also a racer. He is currently the point leader in the Formula Xtreme class of the Australian Superbikes Series. |
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Charles first outing in the Asian GP did not went on smoothly as he planned. His condition deteriorated and was admitted to the hospital on Saturday. He was left with no choice but to miss out on the second qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. However, the doctor discharged him the next morning and he gets to compete in the final. |
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Charles started seventh on the grid based on his qualifying time of 1:36.710s for both Race 1 and 2. Even then, he was finding it a struggle to concentrate in Race 1 but still managed to finish the race in 10th placing and collected 6 points. However, in Race 2, Charles did not finish the race. |
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Shrugging his shoulders, he was philosophical about his poor outing. “I would have performed a whole lot better without the flu. Although this is not Sepang (International Circuit), it’s a good challenging track. I like the layout with its mixture of uphill and downhill corners. Sadly, it’s just one of those things that happened. I lost out on my one and only chance to compare my riding skills among riders from other nations,” remarked Charles who won’t be joining the final two rounds in Zhuhai, China. |