Malaysian Hafizh Syahrin Finishes Ninth At Italian GP

KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Moto2 rider Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah dedicated his ninth place finish at the Italian Grand Prix (GP) Sunday, his best ever outing this season, to the late Jason Dupasquier. “This is for Jason, who left us just before the race,” Hafizh said through a video. The 19-year-old Swiss Moto3 rider died after serious injuries sustained in a multi-rider crash during qualifying on Saturday at the Mugello Circuit, MotoGP announced before Sunday’s race. Despite starting from 20th place, Hafizh, riding for NTS RW Racing GP, put up a scintillating ride to overtake one after another rider to be in eighth place in the final lap. However, the 26-year-old Selangor-born was overtaken by American Racing team rider Cameron Beaubier just before the finishing line, leaving Hafizh to settle for ninth place, 34.849 seconds behind Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Remy Gardner who won the race, clocking 39 minutes and 17.667 seconds. Remy’s teammate Raul Fernandez (+0.014s) finished second while Sky Racing Team’s Marco Bezzecchi (+8.021s) completed the podium. Hafizh still can be proud of his improvements with his machine, having achieved his first top 10 finish since joining the team to walk away with seven points. "Thankful to be in ninth place, even though at the last minute was cut by Cameron. The straight path was a bit difficult for me to get speed. I’ve tried my best, but many times other riders cut me on the straight. “I tried to fight in the corners for a shortcut… Last lap I tried to get a gap but the straight route was quite difficult because the machine still lacked aerodynamics or speed. Regardless, thank you to all Malaysians and sponsors for their support over the years,” he added. Meanwhile, Petronas Sprinta Racing rider Jake Dixon finished the race in 14th place while Xavi Vierge did not finish the race. Darryn Binder performed well to achieve fourth place for the Malaysian outfit in the Moto3 class, while teammate John McPhee was in seventh place. In the MotoGP class, former world champion Valentino Rossi finished in 10th place while fellow Italian Franco Morbidelli ended in 16th place for the Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team. -- BERNAMA