SEPANG: The country’s young and upcoming rider Syarifuddin Azman was crestfallen after placing 16th at the Moto3 race in the Malaysian MotoGP World Championship today.
Syarifuddin, or widely known as Damok, described his performance in the race at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) here as somewhat let down by the settings of his machine.
The 20-year-old Terengganu-born rider who raced on a ‘wildcard’ ticket with the Vision Track Racing Team recorded a time of 38 minutes 19.401 seconds after starting 21st on the grid.
“At the beginning of the race, I was in the top 15 and tried to overtake the other riders, but it was difficult for me to catch them because I was left trailing on the straights.
“However, I still tried to keep the momentum and only managed to finish 16th in the race. I think there is no weakness (of the rider) that needs to be improved, the only problem is with the machine,“ he said after the race.
In the Moto3 race, Great Britain’s John McPhee, in action for the Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max team, finished first with a time of 38:04.589s, while his teammate Ayumu Sasaki of Japan took second spot (38:04.637s).
Spanish rider Sergio Garcia was third after recording 38:04.735s with the Gaviota GASGAS Aspar team.
Despite not being able to finish on the podium, Damok is still positive about making an impact in the JuniorGP World Championship at Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Spain this coming Sunday (Oct 30).
On Friday, it was officially announced that Damok will be moving up to race in the Moto3 class of the MotoGP World Championship for a full season next year with the MTHelmets-MSI team. - Bernama
