Moto2 rider Khairul wants a better showing in sophomore year

PETALING JAYA: Khairul Idham Pawi (pic) wants to raise the bar in his second season in Moto2 world championship after a drab first year.

The 19-year-old has been retained by Idemitsu Honda Team Asia for another year and he wants to show his potential in the intermediate class.

“I want to ride better than last year. I want to get points in every race. To make it happen, I will try to do my best and train as hard as possible before the season starts next month,” said Khairul, who went through a tough year of learning the ropes as a Moto2 rookie in 2017.

Khairul completed 15 of 18 races to rank 27th in the overall standings with 27 points.

Khairul however, had a spectacular rookie season in the Moto3 world championship in 2016. He won two races under wet condi- tions in Argentina and in Germany.

“2017 was quite a difficult season. It was my first year on a Moto2 bike, which was never easy. I just kept on believing in myself and tried to improve race by race.

“I struggled because I started from scratch with Moto2 but now, I’ve gained a year of experience. I hope to get good results in my second year,” said the Perak-born.

Khairul added staying positive had helped him cope through the difficult moments last year.

“I tried to keep positive and stay confident. Even when I didn’t get good results, I would always find something good to learn from that defeat.

“This positive way of thinking has helped me. In fact, I learned a lot from this year’s difficult experiences.”

The 19-round MotoGP championship begins with a night race at Losail, Qatar on March 16-18.