Seasoned campaigner Ahmad Fazli Sham may be approaching the sunset years of his riding career, but the PETRONAS Yamaha Maju Motor vanguard has proven that he can still deliver the goods when the chips are down. The Taiping-born rider bagged his second win of the season at Round 8 in Temerloh, Pahang last weekend with a near-perfect race that placed him in the lead from lights to flag.
Starting the race from third on the CP130 Final grid, Fazli was able to steal the holeshot. Even though he was unable to stretch out a big lead at the front of the chasing pack, Fazli paced consistently enough to be the first across the chequered flag with a time of 13’22.848s. Behind Fazli, mayhem ensued with fierce battles throughout the field. At the end of the 18-lap race, Mohd Fitri Ashraf Razali survived the numerous crashes ahead of him to place second with 13’24.098s followed by Norizman Ismail in third place with 13’24.819s.
“When I snuck into the lead at the front, I just put my head down and gunned for the finish. I didn’t know what was happening behind me. I simply assumed that my teammates were stuck in the group and were unable to get to the front. So I just concentrated on doing my job,” said Fazli.
Temerloh has brought bad luck to the championship leaders in both the CP130 and CP115 class. Young Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin suffered the worst round of the season. Uncharacteristically, he posted only fourth fastest in the Timed Practice Session and was unable to improve on his grid position when the CP130 SuperPole was called off due to adverse weather. While trying to barge his way through the field at the start of the race, Kasma ran wide at Turn 1 and spent the rest of the race playing catch up. He eventually finished eighth.
Kasma still leads the title chase in the premiere class with 158 points but the gap between him and Fazli has narrowed down to a 22-point difference as opposed to the 39 points margin he enjoyed prior to Temerloh. This means that Kasma will need nothing less than a win in the following round in Jempol in order to tie down the CP130 crown.
The championship leaders in the CP115 class suffered a similar fate. Tengku Amirul Haffiruddin of team Motul Zeneos Yamaha YY Pang pulled out of the race as the result of a broken hand when he crashed during the Timed Practice on Saturday. Tengku Amirul’s absence would have handed the CP115 lead to team PETRONAS Yamaha Maju Motor’s Mohd Akid Aziz on a silver platter. But Akid was unable to benefit from that unexpected gift when he crashed out of the CP115 final on Lap 11.
In the end, it was Mohd Haziq Mohd Fairues who scored the victory with a time of 11’20.135s. GiVi Honda Yuzy Racing duo Azroy Hakeem Anuar and Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa completed the podium triangle in second and third places respectively.
The CP115 drama in Temerloh has had huge ramifications on the standings. The title chase is now wide open again with Akid Aziz in the lead with 106 points, followed by Tengku Amirul Haffiruddin in second with 100 points and Mohd Haziq Mohd Fairues third with 92 points.
In the junior Wira class, team Idemitsu Kozi Yam Honda’s Mohd Shafiq Ezzariq was the only rider who managed to escape the championship leader jinx at Temerloh. Shafiq led second-placed Mohd Qhuwarismi Mohd Nasir and Mohd Amirul Ariff Ramlee across the finish line, picking up his fifth victory of the season in the process.
The penultimate round of the 2016 PETRONAS AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship will take place in Jempol, Negeri Sembilan on October 22 – 23, 2016.
Round 8 Results:
CP130
1. Ahmad Fazli Sham (PRK) Yamaha 13’22.848s 2. Md Fitri Ashraff Razali (SGR) Yamaha 13’24.098s 3. Norizman Ismail (SGR) Honda 13’24.819s 4. Md Zaqhwan Zaidi (SGR) Honda 13’25.745s 5. Ahmad Afif Amran (TRG) Yamaha 13’31.201s
Overall standings
1. Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin (JHR) Yamaha 158pts 2. Ahmad Fazli Sham (PRK) Yamaha 136pts 3. Norizman Ismail (SGR) 84pts 4. Ahmad Afif Amran (TRG) Yamaha 74pts 5. Ahmad Fazrul Sham (PRK) Yamaha 72pts
CP115
1. Md Haziq Md Fairues (SGR) Yamaha 11’20.135s 2. Azroy Hakeem Anuar (KUL) Honda 11’21.131s 3. Md Amirul Ariff Musa (JHR) 11’23.419s 4. Amirul Hakim Md Rizal (NSN) Honda 11’24.504s 5. Md Syafiq Rosli (PRK) Honda 11’24.865s
Overall standings
1. Md Akid Aziz (KUL) Yamaha 106pts 2. Tengku Amirul Haffirudin (TRG) Yamaha 100pts 3. Md Haziq Md Fairues (SGR) Yamaha 92pts 4. Ahmad Syukran Aizat (TRG) Yamaha 83pts 5. Md Harith Farhan Baharin (TRG) Honda 69pts
WIRA
1. Md Shafiq Ezzariq (SGR) Honda 9’14.382s 2. Md Qhuwarismi Md Nasir (PNG) Yamaha 9’20.547s 3. Md Amirul Arif Ramlee (JHR) Yamaha 9’26.189s 4. Md Aiman Tahiruddin (KUL) Yamaha 9’26.281s 5. Md Danial Syahmi (TRG) Yamaha 9’30.007s
Overall standings
1. Md Shafiq Ezzariq (SGR) Honda 174pts 2. Md Helmi Azman (SGR) Yamaha 128pts 3. Md Qhuwarismi Md Nasir (PNG) Yamaha 103pts 4. Md Amirul Arif Ramlee (JHR) Yamaha 87pts 5. Saiful Azhary Muhamad (JHR) Honda 71pts
