Keep your fingers crossed for Super KIP

SEPANG: Malaysian rider Khairul Idham Pawi (pic) may return to racing sooner than expected.

The 21-year-old Petronas Sprinta Racing rider has been out of action after he sustained a hand injury at the Spanish Grand Prix in May and had been expected to be out until next year.

He has since undergone three operations with Adam Norrodin filling in for the last few Moto2 races.

Yesterday, though, Sepang International Circuit chief executive officer Datuk Razlan Razali said Khairul may be entered for the Moto3 category at the final round in Valencia, Spain in two weeks time. It could be a good warm-up for Khairul, who had been scheduled to move down to Moto3 next year.

“There is a big possibility that Khairul will replace our rider Ayumu Sasaki of Japan in Valencia. Ayumu fractured his hand in the Moto3 race on Sunday and has returned to Japan for a second opinion as it is a clean fracture.

“Khairul will see the doctor tomorrow on his condition but it is within the eight-week time frame we expected him to recover,” said Razlan.

Khairul, known as Super KIP, launched his Grand Prix racing career in the Moto3 class in spectacular fashion in 2016, winning his second race as a full-time rider at the Argentine GP before going on to take a second victory at the German GP the same year.

Meanwhile, a total of 170,778 spectators attended the Malaysia GP over three days last weekend and Razlan was very pleased with the turnout although the festivities were overshadowed by the death of young Indonesian rider Afridza Munandar in the Asia Talent Cup race on Saturday.

“This is among the risks in motor racing. It’s cruel but it’s exciting. It was purely a racing incident.

“On the attendance, we had a one per cent increase compared to last year.

“It was a fantastic crowd but as in every event, there is still room for improvement.”