SEPANG - Petronas Sprinta Yamaha - CKJ Racing dominated the fourth round of the Malaysian Cup Prix Championship at the South Sepang International Circuit (SIC) today with a 1-2 finish in the premier CP150 category.
Md Izzat Zaidi Md Salehan has seemed to regained his form as he clinched his first victory this season as he broke away from the rest of the riders for first place after three riders in front of him were involved in a crash in the last lap.
The 27-year-old completed the 11 lap race in 14 minutes and 03.436 seconds, followed closely by Md Akid Aziz (+ 0.556s) and Petronas Sprinta Yamaha Maju Motor rider Nazirul Izzat Md Bahauddin (+ 0.558s).
Izzat is hoping to maintain his winning ways after a challenging start to the season as he was recovering from a wrist injury sustained in a crash during the last race in December 2022.
"Firstly, thank you to my team for preparing such a great machine, I could compete with other riders even though today’s race was very tight. I managed to use my chances well to get the lead after the crash in the third turn of the last lap.
"I’m motivated to make a return with this victory after being injured for so long, I hope to remain consistent till the end of the season. My target is to be in the top five overall this season,” he said.
Izzat, who finished the first three races fourth, eighth and sixth, is now second overall with 56 points, nine shy of leader Akid.
Honda Yuzy Estremo rider Azroy Hakeem Anuar is third with 54 points, while Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin of Petronas Sprinta Yamaha Maju Motor, dropped to fourth (51 points), having started the race at the top of the leaderboard.
Kasma Daniel missed out of the fourth and fifth race as he is serving as a replacement rider for injured Moto2 racer Kohta Nozane of Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 at the Italian Grand Prix this week and in Germany next week.
Today’s victory means that Petronas Sprinta Yamaha - CKJ Racing is now leading the team season’s standings with 151 points, followed by Petronas Sprinta Yamaha Maju Motor (88 points) and Honda Yuzy Estremo (84 points).
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, who was at the stands watching the race today, expressed her hope that there would be more races such as the Cub Prix that would attract the interest of youth and their families in a safe motorsports arena.
"This year we prepared RM20 million to upgrade SIC facilities. We hope this track will continue to be a motorsports destination and our next step is to introduce this facility to ambassadors so that we can have an international event. When we have that, the supporting industries, like catering and hospitality will also benefit,” she added. - BERNAMA