Hafizh looking to bounce back after birthday bummer
PETALING JAYA: It would have been a more meaningful birthday had Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah finish the Spanish Grand Prix with championship points in the bag in Jerez, but it wasn’t meant to be.
On the day of his 100th Grand Prix and 25th birthday on Sunday, the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider could only bring his bike across the line in 19th.
Hafizh, who started from 23rd on the grid, is still looking for his first MotoGP point of the season after four races on the under-performing KTM bike.
The Malaysian rider crashed early in the second free practice on Friday and did not go out after that as he complained of a headache.
However, Hafizh managed to recover and returned to the track, but he was far from the best of conditions.
“Friday and Saturday have been really difficult. My condition was not good at all and I didn’t have a great feeling with the bike,” said Hafizh.
“In the race, I told myself to work on my riding and try to do the same on the brake like in Argentina (previous round last month).
“I did my fastest laps of the weekend and caught up with (Bradley) Smith and teammate Miguel (Oliveira) until eight laps to go but I couldn’t keep the pace any more because the rear was sliding quite a lot.
“Anyway, I will keep believing in myself and stay positive. I will keep working hard for the next round in order to be better for the home Grand Prix for my team,” said Hafizh, who is in his second season in the premier class.
The fifth round of the championship will take place in Le Mans, France in two weeks’ time.