Hafizh earns two points in MotoGP debut

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's first MotoGP rider, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah scored a commendable points finish in his race debut at the season opening Qatar Motorcycle Grand Prix at Losail Circuit on Sunday.The MotoGP rookie who started from 15th on the grid crossed the finishing line 20.299 seconds adrift of race winner, Italy's Andrea Dovizioso of Ducati Team.

Dovizioso won the race in 41 minutes and 34.654 seconds, while Spain's Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Italy's Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) finished behind the leader on +0.027s and +0.799s adrift, respectively.

Hafizh Syahrin fought hard to finish a respectable 14th place, which enabled him to earn two points.

"I felt really good in the race. I want to say a huge thank you to my team, because they did a great job.

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I finished my first MotoGP race inside the points, which is even beyond my target, but when you put your focus and your motivation there, it is possible.

"Around seven laps to go, I changed the power of the bike and four laps later, I switched back again.

It's also a huge part of my learning curve to understand the electronics. I was a bit nervous in the race, I didn't want to make any mistake and end up in the gravel.

"I finished the race and brought two points for the team, which makes me truly happy.

I hope I can improve more in the next race and I'll continue training hard in order to be more ready and give the challenge to the rest of the riders," said the 23-year-old in the team's official website.

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However, it was heartbreak for his teammate Johann Zarco of France who started the race from pole psotion, as led from the start until the last five laps before fading late in the race and finishing eighth (+7.112s).

After the Qatar Motorcycle Grand Prix, the next round of the World Motorcycle Championship will be in Argentina at Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit from April 6-8. – Bernama

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