21-year-old Mohd Izzat Zaidi professed surprise when he defeated more experienced Underbone 130cc riders to win Race 2 in the opening leg of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship at the Johor Circuit.
As always in the Underbone 130cc class, the riders spent seven out of eight laps jockeying for position at each corner. When the race intensified in the last lap, Izzat timed his break out of the last corner slipstream to perfection. The RCB KAGE Motobatt YY Pang rider slingshot into the win with a time of 15’32.282s.
Senior rider Norizman Ismail claimed second place with 15’32.420s and FELDA PB Racing’s Iqbal Amri Malik took third spot with 15’32.455s.
Rider Quotes:
Md Izzat Zaidi: “I would like to thank my team for a great start to the ARRC season. My strategy to wait for the last moment before mounting an attack went really well. I hope that I will be able to maintain my momentum in the coming rounds.”
Norizman Ismail: “We made a mistake in our bike settings for Race 1. Our efforts to rectify the problem in Race 2 seemed to have worked in the early part of the race, but problems started cropping up after the halfway mark. Since there was nothing I could do about mechanical errors in the middle of the race, I just stayed focus on consistency and sticking to the main group. I was lucky to finish second.”
Iqbal Amri Malik: “This is my first season in the ARRC and I am feeling a bit pressured. This race had been a big learning experience for me.”