Of the two, only Gupita had previously raced in the Asian series wearing the Kawasaki colours. However, Gupita has emphatically debunked the misconception that he is the new lead rider for the Indonesian Kawasaki team. "Yudhistira and I are equals in the team. This year, we have no lead rider," he stressed.

Two rounds of competition so far had placed Gupita 4th overall in the championship ladder after raking in 54 points. "I am not very satisfied with our results so far. There is still something lacking in the setting of the bike. But I have faith that our team will be able to identify and fix the problem very soon. The title chase is still wide open and I still have a good chance of pulling myself up the ladder."

"To do that, Hadi would still be the man to beat. Even though he is struggling with a new machine this year, Hadi is really very good on big tracks, especially in his remarkable use of strategy. He is the only one standing between me and the Underbone trophy," said Gupita who trails championship leader Hadi by 32 points.

With Kawasaki Indonesia participating in both the Underbone and SuperSports 600cc classes of the Asian series, Gupita's career path is obvious. "2012 will be an important year for me. No doubt, there is a chance to move up to the 600cc next year. But I have set a pre-condition to myself that I must win the Underbone title before I do that," Gupita concluded.