Time to hit the road
eight riders get clearance to compete in europe
Go west and ride on – eight Malaysian daredevils have been given the green light to blaze the tracks in Europe.
The government has given special clearance for the eight to leave the country to compete in the MotoGP and CEV European Championship.
International motorsports will resume this month and the riders are the first batch of Malaysian athletes allowed to leave the country since the Covid-19 pandemic forced the postponement of all sporting activities in mid-March.
Five ZK Racing Team riders, Adam Norrodin, Ibrahim Norrodin, Syariffudin Azman, Sharul Ezwan and Danial Syahmi are bound for Estoril, Portugal tonight for the opening round of the European championship on July 7.
Next up will be Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah, Khairul Idham Pawi and Kasma Danial Kasmayudin later this week for the MotoGP world championship set to resume in Jerez, Spain on July 19.
Hafizh will be riding for Aspar Racing and Kasma for Onexox TKKR SAG Team in Moto2 while Khairul is racing in Moto3 under Petronas Sprinta Racing.
ZK Racing Team manager Zulfahmi Khairuddin is keeping his fingers crossed that things will go smoothly.
“I don’t see any problems as the event will be held under a controlled environment and the situation in Europe is getting better.
“The riders have undergone Covid-19 tests but we’ll still need to go through more tests there.
“I want to thank the National Security Council, the Home Ministry, Malaysian Immigration, the Youth and Sports Ministry and Sepang International Circuit for working together to help secure the clearance for us.
“Hopefully, everything will run smoothly over there,” said the former Moto3 podium winner.
Meanwhile, Khairul is hoping to pick up where he left off.
In the opening round of the season in Qatar (March), he finished 26th.
“Obviously I’m really happy that we are able to race again. I feel I am well prepared after going through the paces at the Sepang Circuit recently,” said Khairul.
Seven crew members have also been allowed to accompany the MotoGP riders to Europe for the races.