Three cracked toes on his right foot is hardly a deterrent for Mohd Zaqhwan Zaidi as he revs up his title defense in the SuperSports 600cc category of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship. The gritty Malaysian rider is determined to press on with his gruelling race schedule in spite of the injury he sustained during Round 1 of the Asian series held at the Johor Circuit in Malaysia.
“Riders have won races with all kinds of injury. The pain is nothing. I’m already at a disadvantage because I did not pick up any points from Race 2 in Round 1,” said Zaqhwan who crashed out on Lap 2 while fighting for the race lead and is currently third overall on the standings with 25 points.
“I must overcome the points deficit in Round 2 at Buriram this weekend.”
There will be no rest for the intrepid Malaysian rider in April. Immediately after Round 2 of the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship wraps up on April 15 in Thailand, Zaqhwan will be heading east to take part in the Suzuka 2&4 Race in Japan onApril 22 and 23.
“The Suzuka 2&4 Race is part of our training regime for the Suzuka 8-hour Endurance in July. If I miss the coming event, I will lose out on valuable track time,” Zaqhwan explained.