By Kent Gray
Hunter Charlett is determined to finally show what he’s capable of in the Yamaha R3 BLU CRU Asia-Pacific Championship as the season rolls into Japan’s famed MotoGP track this weekend.
The Christchurch 16-year-old is overdue a hearty dollop of luck as he prepares for qualifying on Saturday and racing Sunday around the monster 4.8km Motegi circuit in Tochigi.
He’s 12th in standings at the halfway stage of the six-round championship after a string of bad luck including a no-pointer weekend in round two at The Bend Motorsport Park near Adelaide in early May when a sighting lap crash in the wet in race one saw Doctors then rule him out of race two.
That followed 6th and 10th places at Sydney Motorsport Park in late March, his chances of a higher finish in race two at the season opener under lights scuppered by a crash in front of him that Charlett did well to avoid.
At the last round in Indonesia, the reigning NZSBK Supersport 150 and Supersport 300 champion battled the heat at Pertamina Mandalika Street Circuit in Lombok for a pair of 11th places but was still dogged by bad luck.
“That same guy who fell off in front of me at Sydney, fell off in front of me again at Lombok. I’ve had a lot of bad luck lately.”
That hasn’t dented his determination for Japan.
“I want to win because I know I can do it. I haven’t been able to do it yet…but that’s my goal. I want to qualify top five and win from there.”
“It’s important to get into that lead group on the grid because when you’re in the middle of the pack, you get stumped a lot. Sometimes the slower riders get ahead of you and then you have to pass them back and you’ve already lost the front group.”
Charlett is excited to tick off another MotoGP circuit.
“It’s got a lot of elevation and it has a lot of straights,” Charlett told Motorcycling New Zealand.
“We’ll get to check it all out tomorrow [Saturday]. It’s a very long track – it takes two minutes and 15 seconds for a lap on an R3. You get to go underneath bridges and that sort of thing. It looks like a fun track to ride.”
One positive despite the setbacks in Sydney, Adelaide and Lombok has been the post-race debriefs taken to a different level. Charlett feels he’s improved and is ready to show it at Motegi where Australia’s Hunter Corney sets out to defend a narrow two point championship lead over Thai Teeranai Tabtim.
“I don’t usually get one-to-one coaching. It’s really good because you get coaches who have won races in World Superbikes, at that top level. They know what they’re doing.”
Come Sunday, Charlett hopes he’s proved the very same thing.
2026 Yamaha R3 BLU CRU Asia-Pacific Championship
Round 1: Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW, Australia (6th and 10th)
Round 2: The Bend Motorsport Park, Adelaide, Australia (DNS and DNS)
Round 3: Pertamina Mandalika Street Circuit, Lombok, Indonesia (11th and 11th)
Round 4: Mobility Resort Motegi, Tochigi, Japan (September 5-6)
Round 5: Chang International Circuit, Buriram, Thailand (November 13-15)
Round 6: Chang International Circuit, Buriram, Thailand (November 19-22)