Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin’s winning momentum from the previous seasons of the Malaysian Cub Prix Championship continues unabated. As the 25th season of the PETRONAS AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship opened at the Tangkak Racing Track last weekend, the Johor-born rider and CP150 defending champion clinched the first win of the year with a time of 14’54.984s.
Racing in a team filled with Malaysia’s top racing stars, the PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha Maju Motor rider’s dominance in the CP150 class looked to be under threat, particularly when debutant Mohd Akid Aziz stunned everyone by claiming pole position following the CP150 SuperPole.
However, Akid’s first race got off to a bad start, tripped by his own lack of experience in the aggressive CP150 class. Despite starting from pole, Akid lost the holeshot to Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin and continued to lose position when the more senior riders powered past his defenses. Akid retired after just one lap.
Up in front, Kasma led the pack from Lap 1 to Lap 10. Unlike previous seasons however, Kasma was unable to pull away from the chasing pack, especially team PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha-CKJ’s Ahmad Afif Amran who was virtually glued to Kasma’s rear wheel. Afif made an overtaking attempt on Lap 11 but was pushed back to second place when Kasma responded in kind on Lap 13.
Afif’s preemptive move placed Kasma on his guard and the PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha-CKJ rider found it hard to get past his rival in the remaining laps. Afif had to be content to finish second with 14:55.266s while his new team mate Mohd Hafiz Nor Azman celebrated a long-awaited podium in third place with 15:01.124s.
“I was trying hard to shake off Afif, but team CKJ looks to have improved their bike performance tremendously. Afif made me work very hard just to stay ahead of him,” said Kasma.
In the intermediate CP115 category, team Motul Zeneos Yamaha YY Pang Racing was gifted their first win of the season by Tengku Amirul Haffiruddin. Tengku Amirul led the 15-lap race from lights to flag and crossed the finish line in 11:45.056s. Behind the YY Pang rider, Ahmad Syukran Aizat of team PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha-CKJ claimed second spot and Md Haziq Md Fairues of team PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha Maju Motor completed the winning trio.
Finally, newly-minted outfit SIC Junior Team AFB Tech Racing celebrated a 1-2 finish in the age-capped Wira KBS category when Danial Syahmi and Harith Haziq romped home with times of 10’27.747s and 10’28.421s respectively. Team PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha’s Alif Ashraf Tahiruddin finished third with 10’29.866s.
