Fakhrusy Syakirin Rostam’s hopes of giving WIRA title rival, Mohd Hafiz Nor Azman a run for his money was rendered undone today following a crash in the practice sessions, ruling him out of Sunday’s race in the final leg of the 2012 PETRONAS AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship at Stadium Batu Kawan, Penang.
The AAP Mazoil Armstrong Motorsport rider was declared unfit to continue with the weekend’s proceedings by track medical officials having fractured his left arm after crashing at turn 8 in the free practice this morning, just after three laps.
Unable to make-up for the 7-point deficit (158 points) he currently suffers, Hafiz who leads the standings with 165 points can afford to miss Sunday’s race and still be crowned WIRA overall Champion as Tengku Amirul Haffiruddin is separated by 42 points (123 points) in third place.
Even so, Hafiz has no intentions of taking things easy without his rival on the grid. Furthermore, the 16-year old feels challenge by Tengku Amirul who clocked the best lap time in the timed practice. The Motul Yamaha YY Pang rider took control of the timesheets with 54.680s while Hafiz who timed 54.801s had to be content coming in second. Third fastest for the day in the age-cap WIRA class was Hafiza Rofa (Faito YSP Racing) with 55.179s.
“There are mix feelings here. I am happy to know that I am an inch away from the WIRA title and I can thank my lucky stars for that but at the same time I feel bad for Fakhrusy. No rider likes to crash and get injured. He is a great contender and I hope he recovers soon,” said Hafiz.
He went on to add, “I was prepared for an all-out battle with Fakhrusy and even if he is not there tomorrow, I intend to do the same because the team anticipates Tengku Amirul will be a strong contender here. Our lap time is very close so I have to be one step ahead of him if I want to win the race.”
Source from malaysiancubprix.com