MotoGP – Syahrin praised by Tech3 boss after a great race in Argentina

Bruno Gomes

April 1, 2019

Hafizh Syahrin | Photo credits: Asphalt & Rubber

Malaysian star rider Hafizh Syahrin has been going through a tough time in his second season in MotoGP, and after a Qatar GP that everyone wanted to forget, the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider wanted to show everyone that he has what it takes to go for points in MotoGP races. And that’s exactly what Hafizh Syahrin did at the Argentina GP last Sunday.

Again starting from the end of the starting grid, Hafizh Syahrin increased his performance level during race day, and during the MotoGP race at Termas de Rio Hondo, Syahrin and his KTM RC16 went on to finish 16th, just a spot behind of a position that would grant him his first points of the season.

What we saw Hafizh Syahrin do in Argentina is part of what made him such an interesting rider last season, and he’s the first one to recognize he is now much happier than before

“I’m very happy that we improved on our last race! Thank you very much to the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team, because they all kept believing in me. I was fully motivated for the race, although the beginning was difficult. But I tried to fight back and managed to come back to the group in front of me. Unfortunately, after 15 laps, I didn’t have a good feeling with the rear anymore, it was sliding a lot and I was unable to find the right amount of grip, but still, I tried to keep the rhythm and to stay close with the rest of the field. I’m satisfied, because I was able to stick with Johann (Zarco), although we need to work on the rear. We finished very close to the points, but still far from the top. We need to learn, be patient and keep the motivation high. Now we are there, we just need to keep working with the team. Thank you very much to all our sponsors, my team, my family and all the people, that are supporting me. Let’s try again and continue pushing!”, said the young Malaysian.

Photo credits: AutoMobilSport

Even if he hasn’t scored any points until now, Syahrin seems to be doing what the Tech3 team manager wants, and Hervé Poncharal, after warning Syahrin to raise his game after Qatar, is now a very happy MotoGP team manager

“I would like to send a very special thank you to Hafizh Syahrin, who was a bit lost in Qatar. But the way he recovered here in Argentina from FP1 was amazing. He has been fighting the whole race long with Johann Zarco, he never let anything in between the two. He has been pushing from the start of the race until the line. At one stage there was a mistake in the race result and he was in 15th, which would have been incredibly rewarding for his effort, but anyway top 16 is a great thing. He has been fighting with other riders, he has been passing riders like Mir, Rabat, Abraham, Iannone and this is something we are very proud of. We knew he had great potential, but we wanted him to show it on KTM, which is, what he has done today. So, again, well done and thank you very much Hafizh! Both of our riders and the whole team have a week off now and we see each other in Texas, to start where we left off here in Argentina”.

We will now need to wait just a few more days to find out if Hafizh Syahrin really raised his level for good.