Hafizh’s no fish out of water in MotoGP debut
PETALING JAYA: Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah ended his MotoGP season on a high with a top-10 finish at the Valencia Grand Prix.
The rookie rider, who started at 21st on the grid, produced another top performance to end the race 10th at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Spain.
It was an impressive feat, considering it was his first time completing an entire race in wet conditions.
The 24-year-old Hafizh also finished 10th at the Malaysian GP at the Sepang International Circuit two weeks ago.
The Malaysian earned six championship points to finish four points shy of the Rookie of the Year award which was won by Italian rider Franco Morbidelli with 50 points in the overall standings.
Hafizh finished 16th in the over- all standings, one spot behind 2017 Moto2 world champion Morbidelli.
“I just want to say thank you very much to my team. We didn’t expect the top-10 finish in wet conditions,” said Hafizh.
“There were lots of drama, many riders crashed. We believed we could give a challenge to the other riders.
“It was the first time that I did a full race in the wet, I learned many things. In the end, I’m just four points behind the best rookie, Franco. Congratulations to him!
“I did my best. I want to thank all our sponsors, family and fans that came to support me. I’m really happy to be here in the MotoGP.”
Team manager Herve Poncharal said Hafizh had produced a solid result throughout a challenging weekend.
“Hafizh had a tough weekend because he almost never rode the MotoGP bike with the Michelin tyres in the wet. So, it was a good weekend to learn and I think he learned a lot.
“His nickname is ‘Pescao’, which normally means fish and usually a fish is happy when you have a lot of water. Although 10th position is maybe not what he was dreaming of, I think he had a solid weekend.”
Hafizh’s best result of his rookie season was a ninth-place finish at the Argentina GP at the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit in April.
The Valencia round marked the last Grand Prix for Tech3 in partnership with Yamaha following a successful 20 years of cooperation.
The team will be using KTM bikes next year.
In Moto2, Idemitsu Honda Team Asia rider Khairul Idham Pawi did not finish the race while Petronas Sprinta Racing Moto3 rider Adam Norrodin skipped the final round following a knee surgery. Adam’s replacement, Izam Ikmal also failed to finish the race.