Akid’s the man to chase at Cub Prix Championship
SEPANG: Team Petronas Sprinta Yamaha Maju Motor Racing rider Mohd Akid Aziz looks set to extend his domination in the premier CP150 category race at the Petronas Malaysian Cub Prix Championship today.
It looks like Akid will be the man to beat after clocking the fastest time in the first free practice and qualifying races in the third round of the rescheduled championship at the 2.61km Sepang South Circuit yesterday.
The 21-year-old rider produced a blistering quick lap of 1:15.587 in the first free practice.
The Yamaha rider lost out to Mohd Ramdan Rosli from the ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team in the second free practice but regained the top spot with a 1:15.596 timing in the qualifying session.
“The track is in pretty good condition and overall, I’m quite happy with my performance today.
“Our team will not be using full-Dunlop tyres for this round. We’re going to use Dunlop in front and Pirelli at the back for the Sepang leg,” said Akid.
Cub Prix tyre regulations are open and teams are free to use the tyres that best fit the team strategy.
Despite the solid track conditions, it was still crashes galore in the CP150 qualifying session as the punishing pace caused several spectacular crashes, namely from defending champion Ahmad Afif Amran, Amirul Ariff Musa and Nazirul Izzat Zaidi.
They were involved in separate crashes during qualifying but all three riders walked away relatively unscathed.
Amirul Ariff Musa from Team Idemitsu Honda Yuzy Racing was second quickest of the day with 1:15.824 while Team AHM Motorsports Yamaha Racing signalled their comeback with Mohd Khairul Ikhwan Ajis going third quickest in 1:16.069.
Comeback kid Affendi Rosli, returning to Cub Prix action for a stint to help team Petronas Sprinta Yamaha-CKJ Racing get out of their rut, posted the 10th fastest time of 1:17.122.