Hafiz gains from cancellation of race but Adam’s frustrated

All three classes in the British Motorcycle Grand Prix were called off due to persistent rain and that has drawn mixed responses from Malaysian riders.

On Sunday, a meeting between Moto GP promoters Dorna and track organisers International Road Racing Teams Association (IRTA) deemed the track was too dangerous for the riders to continue with the race.

Race Director Mike Webb said the track was unsafe because there was difficulty in clearing water from the surface of the track.

“Obviously, the last thing any of us want to do is to cancel this event. However, safety remains the priority,” said Webb.

“We discussed several options including racing on Monday but it was concluded that it was not a possibility.

“The other possibility was to delay the race as much as possible until it was safe, but we reached a point where even though the rain was getting less, the condition was still unsafe.

Rookie Moto GP rider Hafizh Syahrin appeared to have gained from the cancellation as he was set to start at the back row of the grid.

The Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider qualified at 23rd during the qualification on Saturday, while his closest rival for the Rookie of the Year classification, Franco Morbidelli of Italy, was to start at 15th.

The cancellation means Hafizh remains ahead of the rookies pack.

After 11 races, Hafizh leads the rookies with 24 championship points and sits 16th on the overall standings while Morbidelli is 17th with two points less.

But a confident Hafizh believes he could have got a solid result from the race.

“We could not race because the safety commission decided that the track conditions were quite dangerous because of the weather and they couldn’t drain the water,” said Hafizh.

“It’s the best decision but maybe next time, the tarmac has to be improved.

“I can’t really say I benefited. Who knows, maybe I could have achieved a good result because anything can happen in a race.”

In Moto2, Idemitsu Honda Team Asia rider Khairul Idham Pawi was set to start from the ninth row of the grid, after finishing 27th out of 33 after qualification.

But for Adam Norrodin in Moto3, the cancellation was a shame as he was set to start from 15th on the grid and had a good chance of gaining some valuable championship points.

“I feel disappointed because I qualified with a good position. I also had the confidence because I tend to do better on wet conditions,” said Adam.

The next race will be held in San Marino, Italy, from Sept 7-9.