‘Little Fish’ Hafizh revels in the wet at Sepang

MALAYSIAN Moto2 wildcard rider Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah is nicknamed Pescao (Little Fish) in Spanish by his fellow competitors in the CEV Buckler Spanish Championships.

The 18-year-old lived up to the moniker on the first day of the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix by topping the timesheets in the rain-drenched second practice session.

It was an unprecedented situation as no one could better the 2:13.493 set by Hafizh on the third lap as he made use of the short dry time before rain lashed down halfway into the second practice session.

However, Hafizh still ended the day as the 24th fastest rider based on the 2:09.760 he set astride his Petronas Raceline Malaysia FTR machine.

“I am still not satisfied with my lap times today. However, it is comforting to know that almost everyone is in the same situation. The uncertain weather conditions have made it tough for the team engineers and strategists to come up with the ideal setting for this weekend.

“This applies to me as well. My aim tomorrow is, as always, to go faster,” said Hafizh.

He reiterated that Spain’s Jordi Torres, who was only 0.340 second faster, is still the rider to beat in both qualifying and race day.

“It’s too early to say if I am closing in on my benchmark rider. Jordi is still the first rider I hope to beat every time we go out on the track,” said Hafizh, who is hoping to be the first Malaysian wildcard rider to finish in the points.

The top 15 riders will get world championship points.

Spaniard Pol Espargaro set the quickest time of the day, clocking 2.08:015 in the morning.