HAFIZH PROVIDES THE SPARK
Petronas Raceline rider powers to sixth placing, crash robs Adam of podium finish
Petronas Raceline’s Hafizh Syahrin is now placed 11th with 96 points in Moto2 overall standings after his sixth placing yesterday. BY FADHLI ISHAK, SAIFUL AFFENDY SAPRAN AND KHAIRIL ISWAN nstsport@nst.com.my
NATIONAL riders endured a tough outing at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix with three out of the four suffering crashes at the Sepang Circuit yesterday.
In Moto3, Adam Norrodin was left to rue what could have been after settling for a disappointing 11th in a dry race, crossing the line 12.572s adrift of race winner Joan Mir (40:14.545s) of Leopard Racing.
The SIC Racing Team rider, who started from 15th on the grid, produced strong pace from the start and jumped to 10th after the second turn of the opening lap.
Adam did well to work his way up to fourth but it was not to be as he lost the front end in the 10th lap and suffered a crash. He recovered but found himself down in 12th when he rejoined the race.
The 19-year-old, who set the fastest lap (2:12.775s) among all the riders in the third lap, said he was caught off guard by the situation.
“It is disappointing, I knew I had the pace to push for a spot on the podium when I saw that the leaders could not pull away from me,” said Adam, who was riding on medium Dunlops both on the front and rear.
“I did not not expect the front tyre to deteriorate so quickly as it was only the 10th lap (from 18).
“I lost the front and tried to save (prevent a crash) but I couldn’t as the rear had also slipped.
“It was a bit tough for me when I rejoined the race as my fairing was damaged and the aerodynamics were quite off.”
SIC Racing’s Ayumu Sasaki (+13.581s) came in a spot behind Adam. However, wild card Kasma Danial Kasmayudin of Petronas Sprinta Racing failed to finish the race as he crashed out in the last lap.
In Moto2, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah capitalised on a short spell of rain with four laps remaining to push for a sixth place finish. The Petronas Raceline rider crossed the line 23.410s behind race winner Miguel Oliveira (40:28.955s) of Red Bull KTM Ajo.
Idemitsu Honda Team Asia rider Khairul Idham Pawi’s race came to a premature end when he crashed out in the very first turn of the first lap in a multi-riders collision which also wiped out three others.
Marc VDS’ Franco Morbidelli (+6.878s) wrapped up the world title even before the race started as rival Tom Luthi pulled out due to a fractured ankle after crashing in qualifying yesterday.