MCP ROUND 9:RACE REPORT

CP130

Mohd Taufiq Roslan ended his podium dry spell as the new addition to PETRONAS Yamaha-CKJ scored a podium in the penultimate round of the PETRONAS AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship at the Sepang Circuit.

The replacement rider crossed the finish line in third place in the CP130 category behind race winner, Elly Idzlianizar Ilias and teammate, Mohd Affendi Rosli after a hard fought battle which saw the leaders change almost in every lap.

Taufiq completed the 13-lap race within 17’36.229s while Elly and Affendi timed 17’36.166s and 17’36.229s respectively.

Meanwhile Ahmad Fuad Baharudin continues to impress as he successfully finished the race in fifth place despite taking off from last row. Picking up 11 points, the Faito Yamaha Motobert rider scales to the top of the CP130 standings with 128 points with a one point advantage over title contender, Norizman Ismail who failed to finish the race.

PETRONAS Syntium Moto Yamaha AHM’s Ramdan Rosli on the other hand suffered another poor outing as he was forced to retire after seven laps due to technical issues to his bike, ultimately ending his CP130 title chance.

CP115

Separately the CP115 race at Sepang marked a joyous occasion for Hong Leong Yamaha as Ahmad Afif Amran clinched the CP115 title with another victory.

The PETRONAS Yamaha-CKJ rider secured the crown in a cunning manuever to streamline behind title rival, Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa and overtake him during the final sprint to the finish line.

Afif completed the gruelling 10-lap race within 13’57.509s while Amirul was forced to be content in second place with 13’57.926s followed by Sasitharen Sukumaran third, 13’57.926s.

“I can’t believe that we finally won the championship. Thank you everyone especially the team, sponsors, my family and our fans for giving us endless support,” said Afif who amassed 161 points in the championship standings.

Reflecting on the race, Afif commented, “We did not think it was possible to lift the crown here (Sepang) because our contenders were very fast and there were instances when I dropped behind during the race. Fortunately the engineers did a great job setting up the machine and this gave me a slight advantage against the field, especially on the front straight.”

When asked about his future plans now that he has etched his names among the list of Cub Prix Champions, “For now nothing has been decided yet but for sure the team is looking into moving into the premiere class,” he said.

WIRA

Meanwhile, Amirul Hakim proved his mettle to grab his first podium for the season in the WIRA category.

The Mos Track Pro Yamaha Racing rider who was fastest in the practice sessions impressed to consistently ride with the leaders before Ahmad Syukran Aizat stole the chequered flag from him during the sprint to the finish line.

Amirul completed the race within 12’46.231s while Syukran timed 12’46.175s. Wrapping up the podium steps was Mohd Syafiq Rosli with 12’46.279s.

Hauling 25 points from this leg, Syukran now moves up to third overall with 115 points, 4 points behind Syafiq in second overall with 119 points.

Warner Pump-YSP’s Hafiza Rofa had already won the WIRA title in the previous leg at Jempol last month.

Yamaha 135 Super Series PETRONAS

One lucky streak for Mohd Azam Omar in Sepang when the Terengganu-born rose to victory in Round 9 of the Super Series Yamaha 135 PETRONAS to claim the overall title.

The 15 year old collected 184 points to securely grant him the season’s champ even though there is one more round left on the Cub Prix calendar.

“I’m grateful for this particular victory but it was really an uphill challenge especially when I was contested heavily by the other riders. Though a champion, I will still give my very best for the race in the next round,” said Azam.

Earlier on in the race itself, Mohd Helmi Azman came out on top that looked like an easy win especially with the gap he created from other riders. However, Helmi succumbed to a crash that retired him from the race and this left a shiny chance for Azam to seal the deal and finish in 11:47.501s.

Number two spot was won by Mohd Khairul Ikhwan Ajis with his time of 11:47.670s while Shafiq Ezzariq won third place.

Mohd Ibrahim Mohd Norrodin unfortunately could not race on the same pace as the others. Although sitting in secod place overall. Ibrahim only managed to set a fifth place win.

For more info and results, please visit www.malaysiancubprix.com