Published on: Thursday, November 19, 2009 |
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah pocket (mini) bike racers did fairly well at the recent Formula KBS mini bike championship held at the Speedway Plus, Elite USJ track in Selangor on November 8.
14-year-old Mohd Quayyum B Azizan took the fourth spot in the final of the expert category while 12-year-old team mate Mohd Rafian bin Noordin came home eighth.
It was a morale boosting result for the duo as they do not have a proper race track to practise back home unlike their Peninsula counterparts and to qualify for the finals is not an easy task.
Quayyum said he was a little disappointed not to finish in the top three as the time between the second and fourth were very close but was generally quite happy with his overall performance.
Rafian, on the other hand said the bike was a let down as he reckoned he could have finished higher in the final standing if not because of the faulty engine on his bike.
The competition rules only allowed the competitors to use the bikes that are provided and the in house mechanics were the only ones allowed to do any repair job on the bikes.
Last year the two young bikers had their first taste on a proper circuit when they competed in two championships towards the end of the season.
The experience learned last year from the trips definitely showed this time round as they were seen to be more competitive and if they have the proper track to practice and be given more reliable bikes they could have achieved better results.
The result by the two will clearly lift the spirit of pocket cyclists in the State as the ever increasing number of mini bikers know that they too could compete with best in the country even though they could only get to practice on a make shift track at the Likas Sports Complex parking lot every Sunday.
Another biker who was in the team for the competition, Muhammad Nur Fahmi also did himself proud on his debut as he finished seventh in the novice category.
Meanwhile, a large number from mini bikers community from the State capital were invited to compete in a special race to coincide with the annual go-kart competition held in Sandakan last month.
The race was won by Rafian with a total 21 points accumulated and only a point ahead of Quayyum who came second.
