The 2019 season will be marked in MotoGP by the debut of a new team under the Petronas colors. A Malaysian ambition which will be combined with an official Yamaha entrusted to the Italian Franco Morbidelli and an M1 of the previous generation which will be in the hands of the French fabio quartararo. But the idea remains to integrate a long-term pilot into the structure…
The man who is building a future in Grand Prix in Malaysia, Razlan Razali, don't hide it. While Hafizh Syahrin is preparing for his second year with Tech3, he hopes that the new Petronas Yamaha team will soon see another young Malaysian arrive. Who would become his team's first MotoGP rider.
The latter is already designated. It is Khairul Idham Pawi. He made Malaysian history as the first and for the moment only Grand Prix winner, thanks to two resounding victories in Moto3, during his 2016 season. But the rain ace could not confirm all the good things we thought of him after his first Moto2 campaign with Honda Team Asia. To this day, he has still not scored a single point in this category.
The 20-year-old driver aspires to make a fresh start after joining his team in national colors. He will be the only Moto2 rider this season. The CEO of Sepang, Razlan Razali, declared that, if Pawi gave satisfaction at the end of his two-year contract in Moto2, a place in the MotoGP team was guaranteed.
« Pawi is still our national treasure, as the only Malaysian to win a Grand Prix" , said Razali à crash.net. " It is unfortunate that he was placed in Moto2 so early. I don't know what the plan was. But that still gives him two years of valuable experience. He came to visit our MotoGP team after Valencia. We visited him and we said: “you have two years to do something because we want you to be our first Malaysian MotoGP rider in this team”. This should encourage him to be really motivated, focused and work hard. Because he knows that if he does well, there will be a natural progression within our structure towards MotoGP. She is waiting for him."
When asked what Pawi needed to get his career back on track, Razali replied : " something went wrong, somewhere. We must find a solution. We need to get into his mind and understand exactly what it is. We therefore hope to be able to do something, but once again, it is first and foremost the individual who must not miss his chance.."
On this subject, here it is fabio quartararo warned. It’s up to him, therefore, not to let his pass!
