Zaqhwan Remains Positive After Heavy Rain Interupted Testing

image: JPMoto Racing Team facebook

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's Moto2 rookie, Zaqhwan Zaidi's preparation for his debut season was interrupted by heavy rain at Jerez Circuit in Spain, on Wednesday.

JPMoto said in a statement that the challenging weather had limited Zaqhwan's track time and did not allow him to push the Suter machine to the limit.

Despite the setback, Zaqhwan and his JPMoto team remained positive, using whatever possible sessions to the fullest in getting the rider and his bike ready for the season opener at Losail Circuit, Qatar, on March 29.

"Obviously, things did not go as planned. Heavy rain had affected the first two days of testing in Jerez. I could only manage a limited number of laps. Nevertheless, we need to always be positive and take this challenge positively.

"I am happy that I managed to do a few laps on both days. Naturally, I was quite nervous with the challenging weather and track conditions; especially as this is my first look at Jerez circuit.

"But in all, everything went well. We will continue to work hard and get ourselves ready for Qatar," said the statement.

Zaqhwan concluded his session in 22nd position clocking one minute and 49.255s.

Two other Malaysians in Moto2 class, Azlan Shah Kamaruzzaman (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) clocked 1:45.729s and 1:46.523s, respectively.

image: SIC Racing Team facebook

In the Moto3 class, the Malaysian team, Drive M7 SIC Racing Team continued to make headway at the Spanish circuit today, despite intermittent rain.

Malaysia's Moto3 ace, Muhammad Zulfahmi Khairuddin said the wet condition was very challenging especially after a minor crash saw him lose valuable time on track to work on his set-up and better his time.

"It was raining heavily during the final session and unfortunately I had a minor crash on lap two. I was only able to do nine laps but now we know what to do with the bike. I hope the weather will be more consistent tomorrow and we can get more time on track," he said in the team's press statement.

Undeterred by the weather conditions, his teammate, Jakub Kornfeil (Czech Republic) took to the track to test the wet set up on his KTM Moto3 machine for the first time.

"In the end (of the testing session) it was raining heavily, which was perfect as we had a full wet session...it was an ideal time to test our wet set-up properly, which was what we wanted. Finally we did a great job.

"I have to say thanks to my team; we set-up the bike for the wet very well and I felt good. Still we have to work on the electronics as we have a couple of things to improve, but when we have done this I am confident that we can again be faster," said Kornfiel.
-bernama.