Joy in the rain

MALAYSIAN riders proved their ability in the wet after all three did well in the opening practice sessions at the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Phillip Island circuit yesterday.

Rookie Khairul Idham Pawi (Honda Team Asia), who unexpectedly won the Argentina and German rounds in the rain earlier this season, was 19th on one minute and 52.480 seconds in the morning session but shot up to third in the second practice (1:55.409s) as the rain got heavier.

Fellow newcomer Adam Norrodin, who notched his first points finish since April at Motegi last week, was 19th (1:52.480s) and 12th (1:56.824s) in the second.

The Drive M7 Racing Team rider said he is still finding his rhythm on the circuit.

“For me Phillip Island is not an easy track to learn. You have to have a lot of confidence to ride it fast and the weather was quite tricky,” said the 18year-old. “My result this morning was pretty bad. I felt a lot better in the second session as I knew where my problem areas were and I had a much better feeling on the bike.”

Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah opened his campaign down under with a 1:48.340s effort which placed him seventh in the opening session.

The Petronas Raceline rider was, however, unable to take to the track for a second run as the session was called off with the heavy rain being deemed unsafe.

Hafizh’s nickname ‘Pescao’ mean fish in Spanish due to his wet weather prowess. By Fadhli Ishak