KUALA LUMPUR: Insufficient test sessions to try out his machine clearly affected Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah’s ability to make an impact in the first two races of the World Superbike Championship (WSBK) 2022 at the MotorLand Aragon Circuit in Spain last week.

Not only that, Hafizh, who represents Mie Racing Honda team, admitted that the lack of data on other riders also resulted in him being unable to put up a better fight.

“I hope that for the coming races, the team will fine-tune my machine (Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade) so that I will be able to post improved timing and position so as to be closer to the front runners,” he said in a video clip shared with the media today.

Although his performance was quite disappointing, the former Moto2 rider said he had given his best in Spain and that he was also excited about the experience gained from making his debut in the WSBK.

“I gained a lot of experience from racing (in the WSBK) this time, especially in terms of electronics and tyre... (and) it is definitely different. It’s another championship, so, of course, it is different from the time I raced in the World Motorcycling Championships,” he said.

In the first race in Spain last week, the 27-year-old failed to collect any points after finishing in 21st position before improving by one spot to end up 20th in the second race.

Hafizh, who is nicknamed ‘El Pescao’ (Little Fish), will be back in action in the next race at the Assen Circuit in the Netherlands from April 22-24. - Bernama