Hafizh sets personal best time in qualifier

MALAYSIAN Moto2 wildcard rider Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah shaved 0.245s off his personal best time to qualify 27th on the grid for the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Sepang Circuit today.

Hafizh, who clocked 2:09.760 in the first day of practice on Friday, managed to better his time to 2:09.515 during the qualifying session.

It was a marked improvement from his previous year’s outing where his personal best was 2:11.083s and put him 33rd on the grid.

“The lap times are satisfactory because I am gradually improving. For now, the first objective of the team has been met, in that I have managed to better both my lap times and starting position as compared to last year’s outing.

“I believe that in a race situation, I will be able to improve even more. Of course there is a huge difference between the results on a dry and wet track.

“But regardless of the track condition, I will not give up. I fully intend to chase down the mid-field riders ahead of me,” said the 18-year-old, who is currently competing in the CEV Buckler Spanish Championships. As Hafizh focuses on preparing himself mentally for the challenge of race day, team Petronas Raceline Malaysia is also working around the clock to prepare as ideal a machine as possible for their young protege.

“As a new team participating in the world championship, we have been constantly tweaking the bike set-up to help improve Hafizh’s performance.

“The qualifying session was particularly tough for Hafizh. The track temperature is almost ideal for racing and this has allowed many of the full-season competitors to up their pace.

“There are a few more settings that we will be trying out during the Sunday warm-up. But, all said, we are proud of Hafizh for what he has done this weekend,” said team manager Barry Leong.