YACR:AFIF LEADS MALAYSIAN CONTINGENT

Fresh from the PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship season finale, Ahmad Afif Amran together with a few other Hong Leong Yamaha riders gear up for the 10th Yamaha Asean Cup set to take place at the Sentul Circuit in Indonesia this weekend.

Afif who completed the Underbone 115cc category second overall will compete in the Jupiter 115cc category (MT) alongside Abdul Muhaimin Roslan, Tengku Amirul Haffiruddin, Mohd Adib Rosley and Yamaha 135 Super Series winner, Mohd Azam Omar.

Meanwhile, Mohd Shariffudin Shamsuddin, Mohd Izzat Zaidi Salehan, Mohd Taufiq Roslan, Saiful Izman Ahmad Zamani and Mohd Iqbal Amri Abdul Malek is set to take part in the sports production category (ST) onboard Yamaha YZF-R15 machines.

Despite his experience racing underbone, Afif insisted that he has no high expectations for the annual event, saying that while physically the bikes look the same, it runs on unfamiliar specs.

“The Jupiter bikes features fuel-injection engines, something that is still very new in Malaysia and it is said to be much faster. Certainly, it will take some time for me and the mechanics to adjust to the machines, hence I do not want to put any unrealistic targets for the race. Additionally, I am certain our Indonesian and Thailand riders will be very strong,” said Afif.

Meanwhile, team coordinator, Melvin Tan commented, “We might be at a disadvantage as the Indonesian and Thai teams have more experience with both MT and ST machines but this will not stop us from giving our best at Sentul.”

He went on to add, “Even if we return home without any good results, we will get some experience racing fuel injection bikes. This is good for the riders’ and mechanics’ development as the industry back home looks to be heading in that direction.”

Besides Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, the 10th YACR will also see be joined by Yamaha representatives from Japan, India and the Philippines.