Izzat shared same bike number as his idol
PETALING JAYA: Teenager Muhammad Izzat Abdul Hakim idolised MotoGP star Valentino Rossi and ironically, shared the same bike number as the seven-time Italian world champion.
And Muhammad Izzat, who turned 17 on Sept 3, was himself a champion when he was even younger.
His first win came when he was just 10. He won the pocket bike race in a Saturday Night Race at Semenyih Minimoto Park in 2006. That’s when he got hooked to the sport.
He started to train in motocross two-stroke KTM 200cc bike three years later when he was only 13.
The following year he started racing at the Sepang track for the first time – in the Malaysian Cub Prix Championships in Round 3 under One Make Honda Race. Muhammad Izzat finished 15th.
He claimed a second placing in the Kapcai Endurance race, jointly organised by Youth and Sports Ministry and Motorsport Association of Malaysia at Speedway Plus Circuit early this year.
He started to compete in the SIC Ninja 250 Cup, which is a one-make series of 10 races for young riders.
The plans had already been laid out for Muhammad Izzat to fight for a chance to impress in the series, which is into its second season and created as a platform to identify and develop riders racing on full-framed motorcycles at an early age. The idea was to get them to become world class competitors.
Sadly, for Muhammad Izzat, those plans will never come through.