On the occasion of the Motegi and Phillip Island Grands Prix, we introduced you to the Japanese and Australian drivers from the World Cup. Now that the MotoGP field arrives in Sepang, it's time for the three Malaysian riders who will delight their fans this weekend!
Spain and Italy clearly dominate the World Championship in terms of the number of their drivers, and we know many of them. However, other countries have representatives, in fewer numbers, and it is always interesting to learn more about them. This time we will focus on Hafizh Syahrin, Khairul Idham Pawi and Adam Norrodin, the three Malaysians on the grid who will be in the spotlight this weekend during the Sepang Grand Prix.
MOTOGP
Born in Ampang on May 5, 1994, Hafiz Syahrin (n°55) arrived in the Moto2 World Championship as a wild card in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He first started with his national Grand Prix, in Malaysia, during the first two years and he managed to achieve a feat during the second, in 2012. Author of a fantastic race, he finished in fourth position, but was then classified third following the disqualification of another driver. He then climbs onto his first podium even though he is not even a starter! He made four other wild cards in 2013 at Le Mans as well as in Barcelona, Sepang and Valencia. He manages to score a point on these races.
In 2014, he completed his first full season in Moto2 with the Petronas Raceline Malaysia team. He learned quietly and progressed during his first two years, regularly entering the points and even in the top 10. His best result was a top 5, in Japan in 2015.
Always supported by the same team, Syahrin gained momentum in 2016, coming close to the podium in the first race. At the end of the season, he finished more than half of the races in the top 10 and ranked ninth in the Championship.
However, we will have to wait until 2017 to see it revealed. He continued to play placed throughout the season, and won two new podiums, in Misano and Motegi. He finished tenth in the Championship and was preparing to continue another year with the Petronas team, when he was contacted by the Tech3 team in MotoGP to replace Jonas Folger. It was a waking dream for Syahrin who then became the first Malaysian in history to enter the premier category. As the season draws to a close, he is second in the rookie standings behind reigning Moto2 World Champion Franco Morbidelli and holds a best result of ninth.
Hafizh Syahrin was able to establish himself in MotoGP this year by achieving very good performances for a beginner, and he will certainly be reckoned with next year. We will therefore find him again within the Tech 3 team, but this time on the handlebars of a KTM.
MOTO2
Khairul Idham Pawi (n°89) was born in Perak on September 20, 1998. He made his debut in the Moto3 World Championship during a wild card at the Aragon Grand Prix in 2015. He only really arrived in the World Championship for his first full season than in 2016, within Honda Team Asia. He then achieved a real feat in the second Grand Prix in Argentina, winning the race in the wet with 26 seconds ahead of the runner-up! His incredible performance was commented on all over the world, and Pawi then became known to the public, especially since he repeated his feat in Germany, where this time it was with an 11 second lead that he won under the rain. Besides that, he remains a rookie and continues to learn in the dry. He only entered the points twice and finished nineteenth in the Championship.
Against all odds, he and his team decided to bring him up in his second season in Moto2. He therefore arrived in the intermediate category in 2017. As a new rookie, he had to familiarize himself with the bike, but still managed to enter the points twice, his best result being an eighth place at Misano.
Khairul Idham Pawi, however, is having a fairly complicated 2018 season. He only managed to enter the points once, finishing fifteenth at Le Mans. He currently occupies twenty-ninth place in the Championship.
MOTO3
Born on June 13, 1998 in Johor Bahru, Adam Norrodin
(n°7) arrived in the Moto3 World Cup in 2016 within the SIC Racing Team (newly Petronas). He had a first season of learning, quite far down in the standings, even if he managed to get into the points three times, his best result being eleventh place. However, he missed achieving a double with his compatriot and teammate Pawi during the Argentine Grand Prix. While Pawi won the race, Norrodin crashed on the last lap while in third place. He pushes his motorcycle, desperate, to the finish line where he collapses in sadness. The image stands out as much as his teammate's victory.
He continued with the same team in 2017, and achieved a top 10 in the first race in Qatar. However, we had to wait until the end of the season to see him clearly progress and achieve an eighth place as his best result.
Still in the SIC Racing Team this year, Norrodin is having a more complicated season. While he started fantastically well by entering the top 10 then the top 5 in Qatar and Argentina, he then fell several times, which prevented him from really shining. His good results are in fact offset by his falls, and he only occupies twentieth place in the Championship for the moment.
