Hafizh Syahrin has just been established within the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team for the 2018 season, replacing Jonas Folger (see here).
Born May 5 1994 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the 23-year-old pilot began his career at the age of 9 with the Pocket Bike before making his debut in 2007 in the Yamaha Givi Cup where he took his LC135 to second place in the general classification. Small and light, his motorcycle must also be ballasted to comply with the regulations…
The following year, he obtained third place in the Yamaha Givi Cup and, helped by Petronas Sprinta Raceline, arrived in the Novice category.
2009 saw him completely dominate the season in the Novice category, which allowed him, before the end of it, to move to the Expert category where he finished 3rd in the Asia Road Racing Underbone 115cc championship.
En 2010, at 16, he became the youngest successful pilot in this renowned CP 130 category.
He also tried his hand at the Petronas Asia Road Racing Championship aboard a 600cc SuperSport and finished his first season in a respectable 12th place out of 39 riders, having become at the age of 17 the youngest winner in the category on the Losail circuit.
He finished 4th in the same category in 2011 before spending the following year in the Spanish Moto2 championship, where he finished 6th aboard an FTR still in the Petronas Raceline Malaysia colors.
2012 is also the year where, as a wildcard, he made his mark by taking the lead in the Malaysian Grand Prix in the rain before finishing in 4th position (which would be transformed into 3rd after Anthony's disqualification West for reasons we know). From this splendid performance on a wet track was born his nickname “Pescao”, the fisherman, which could be replaced by “little fish” for a better meaning.
En 2013, Hafizh Syahrin climbs onto the 3rd step of the podium in the CEV championship, having placed his Kalex behind the unfortunate Alejandro Marinelarena. He also scored a point during his home Grand Prix in which he still participates as a wildcard.
He's jumping into the deep end full time by 2014 riding his Kalex Petronas Raceline Malaysia, and will emerge 19th with 42 points.
16th in 2015 with 64 points after a 5th place at the Japanese Grand Prix, he is back in 2016 and, after finishing fourth three times and ten times in the top 10, he collected 118 points which propelled him to 9th final position.
Despite a 2nd position in Misano and a 3rd in Motegi, 2017 turns out to be a little less successful, with 106 points scored and 10th place in the general classification. He also took part in the Suzuka 8 Hours aboard a Suzuki GSX-R1000 L7 from the Kagayama team which he shared with Yukio Kagayama and Naomichi Uramoto.
Married in February this year and still managed by Razlan Razali, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah was supposed to join the SIC Racing team led by Johan Stigefelt when, one evening, the phone rang…
