YACR:QUALIFYING REPORT

ST CATEGORY

Izzat Zaidi Salehan continued his consistency in giving a delightful surprise when he qualified fifth in the ST category, the best position for team Malaysia in the Yamaha ASEAN Cup held at the Sentul Circuit, Indonesia.

Adding to the positive vibe, Izzat shaved about six seconds off his practice record in the qualifying round with 1:58.570s being his best time so far, just shy a fraction of a second behind pole-sitter Prawat Yannawut of Thailand who clocked in 1:58.063s.

“First of all it’s been an honor having a very skilled team of mechanics on my side, I am lucky for that. I’m glad that I could shed a few seconds of my timing and managed to place myself just behind the front row grid in the race on Sunday,” spoke Izzat, now very confident and familiar with the machine and track itself.

With the R15 machine in the Thailand market for quite some time, it’s no wonder that front pack is filled with three riders from Thailand. One of them, Prawat Yannawut will start from pole position.

As Team Manager, Michael Chai mentioned that Izzat is one of the few young riders who has potential, explaining the reason why he was brought to compete in his maiden international race for the first time.

“Apart from a promising future, Izzat also learns fast. With the Indonesian riders being very familiar with the track and the Thais with the machine, I am quite pleased to see Izzat break that dominance,” continued Michael.

Mohd Shariffuddin Shamsuddin will start on ninth position while Muhammad Taufiq Roslan, Iqbal Amri Malek and Saiful Izman Ahmad Zamani will start 13th, 14th and 19th respectively.

MT CATEGORY

Abdul Muhaimin Roslan became the best Malaysian in the MT class when he secured a second row start having qualified fifth today.

Adding to the delight of the team, Tengku Amirul Haffiruddin also placed himself in a good fighting position to break the domination of Indonesian riders at the front consisting of Syahrul Amin, Ricahrd Taroreh and Reza Dhanica.

Apart from the gained confidence and familiarity of the machine, the team mechanics also played a positive role in making sure the Jupiters are up to race standards. With new-found ECU setups and ignition timing, the bikes performed well especially coming out of corners.

Team manager, Michael Chai said,”We are proud to have our riders in a position that could possibly mean a podium win at long last. Especially when competing against the Indonesian team on their home ground.”

With a slight intonation of team spirit, Muhaimin commented, “I am confident I could finish with a good result as long as we could find the perfect machine setup. But more importantly, I’m planning to get in a comfortable position to guide the other Malaysian riders so that we could all finish together up front”.

ST CATEGORY

Izzat Zaidi Salehan continued his consistency in giving a delightful surprise when he qualified fifth in the ST category, the best position for team Malaysia in the Yamaha ASEAN Cup held at the Sentul Circuit, Indonesia.

Adding to the positive vibe, Izzat shaved about six seconds off his practice record in the qualifying round with 1:58.570s being his best time so far, just shy a fraction of a second behind pole-sitter Prawat Yannawut of Thailand who clocked in 1:58.063s.

“First of all it’s been an honor having a very skilled team of mechanics on my side, I am lucky for that. I’m glad that I could shed a few seconds of my timing and managed to place myself just behind the front row grid in the race on Sunday,” spoke Izzat, now very confident and familiar with the machine and track itself.

With the R15 machine in the Thailand market for quite some time, it’s no wonder that front pack is filled with three riders from Thailand. One of them, Prawat Yannawut will start from pole position.

As Team Manager, Michael Chai mentioned that Izzat is one of the few young riders who has potential, explaining the reason why he was brought to compete in his maiden international race for the first time.

“Apart from a promising future, Izzat also learns fast. With the Indonesian riders being very familiar with the track and the Thais with the machine, I am quite pleased to see Izzat break that dominance,” continued Michael.

Mohd Shariffuddin Shamsuddin will start on ninth position while Muhammad Taufiq Roslan, Iqbal Amri Malek and Saiful Izman Ahmad Zamani will start 13th, 14th and 19th respectively.

MT CATEGORY

Abdul Muhaimin Roslan became the best Malaysian in the MT class when he secured a second row start having qualified fifth today.

Adding to the delight of the team, Tengku Amirul Haffiruddin also placed himself in a good fighting position to break the domination of Indonesian riders at the front consisting of Syahrul Amin, Ricahrd Taroreh and Reza Dhanica.

Apart from the gained confidence and familiarity of the machine, the team mechanics also played a positive role in making sure the Jupiters are up to race standards. With new-found ECU setups and ignition timing, the bikes performed well especially coming out of corners.

Team manager, Michael Chai said,”We are proud to have our riders in a position that could possibly mean a podium win at long last. Especially when competing against the Indonesian team on their home ground.”

With a slight intonation of team spirit, Muhaimin commented, “I am confident I could finish with a good result as long as we could find the perfect machine setup. But more importantly, I’m planning to get in a comfortable position to guide the other Malaysian riders so that we could all finish together up front”.