KUALA LUMPUR: The FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) will, for the first time, not feature a Malaysian round next year.
The organisers of the bike race unveiled their 2018 provisional calendar today which lists six rounds, including a new leg in Australia.
Malaysia hosted a round of the race every year since it started in 1996 either at the Pasir Gudang, Sepang or now defunct Shah Alam Circuit.
The new season will begin with testing at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand on Feb 27-28.
The first round will also be held at Buriram (March 2-4) followed by Adelaide (Apr 19-22), Suzuka (June 1-3), Madras (Aug 3-5) and Sentul (Oct 12-14) with the season finale to be held in Buriram on Nov 30-Dec 2).
The new Australian round will be held at the The Bends Motorsports Park and will be run alongside the Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK).
National riders Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Md Akid Aziz had done the nation proud after emerging as the overall champions in the SuperSports 660cc and Underbone 150cc class respectively this year.