HAFIZH STORMS TO PODIUM FINISH

Petronas Raceline Malaysia rider finishes third in San Marino

REPORTS BY FARAH AZHARIE farahazharie@nst.com.my

HAFIZH Syahrin recorded his first Moto2 podium finish after he powered his way to an impressive third place finish at the Marco Simoncelli Circuit in San Marino yesterday.

The 23-year-old Petronas Raceline Malaysia rider finished +7.875s behind CarXpert Interwetten rider Thomas Luthi, who finished second, as the Swiss saw their first-ever one-two when both Dominique Aegerter of Kiefer Racing and Luthi finished first (51:39.709s) and second (+1.400s), respectively during the dramatic wet race.

The last time Selangor-born Hafizh stood on the podium was back in 2012 infront of an elated home crowd at the Malaysian Grand Prix when as a wildcard entry, he managed to finish third in Moto2 with his current team, Petronas Raceline Malaysia.

Hafizh who rides a Kalex bike, is currently 10th in the Moto2 World Standings after gaining a much needed 16-points for a total of 66-points, 20-points short of Italian Simone Corsi in ninth place, and 157-points behind current leader Italian Franco Morbidelli.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Moto3 representative, Adam Norrodin of SIC Racing Team only managed 18-laps before crashing out.

Adam astride his Honda was one of 15 riders who did not finish the crash-laden race.

The 19-year-old’s Japanese teammate Ayumu Sasaki only managed 10 laps before crashing out in a race that saw Italian Romano Fenati win the race with a time of 46:24.290s.

Fenati finished 28.594s ahead of Moto3 championship leader, Spaniard Joan Mir, and Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio who came in third.