Hafizh Syahrin
| Hafizh Syahrin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality |
 Malaysian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
5 May 1994 Selangor, Malaysia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | Petronas Raceline Malaysia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bike number | 55 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (born 5 May 1994) is a Grand Prix motorcycle racer from Malaysia.[1]
Career
Early years
Syahrin was born on 5 May 1994 in Selangor, Malaysia, and grew up in Selangor. He began his career at the age of 9, in pocket bikes; he eventually acquired the nickname "King of Pocket Bikes", when he was discovered by team manager Barry Leong purely by chance. It was not long before his talent began to show after his racing debut on pocket bikes the following year. Dominating the pocket bike category soon after, he was discovered by Leong at one of the pocket bike tracks.
Career development
In 2007 at the age of 13, Syahrin made his debut in the Cub Prix championship in dominating style finishing his first year on the YAMAHA LC135 Cup class second overall.
His form continued the following year as the Petronas Sprinta Raceline team’s then youngest rider finished on the podium taking 3rd overall in the YAMAHA GIVI Cup in 2008, in the process also making waves through his spot entries in the Novice category with impressive results.
Syahrin started the 2009 season on a high winning the opening race of the season at Alor Setar with a win in the Novice category. With 7 wins out of 8 rounds, with the other being a podium finish, his dominance in the category was unrivalled that he opted to forego the final two rounds. The youngster switched to race against his more illustrious and seasoned seniors in the Expert category with podium results. He finished third in the Asia Road Racing Underbone 115cc Championship.
Graduating to take on the expert category in 2010, the switch was seamless as Syahrin literally broke down all the barriers and tore the competition apart. Despite a massive revamp in the technical regulations that led to the renaming of the expert category to become the CP130 category; these changes did little to rattle Syahrin's cage.
By the time the season drew to a close in Penang's Padang Kota Lama, the 16-year-old had obliterated the competition to emerge as the championship's youngest ever CP130 champion, erasing the record set by Norizman Ismail who was the Expert champion in 2005 at the age of 20.
2010 was also significant as the 16-year-old made the step up to the bigger league, the Petronas Asia Road Racing Championship aboard a 600cc SuperSport bike. Against a much older and experienced field, the youngster held his own to finish his debut season in a respectable 12th from 39 riders. He finished fourth in the same series in 2011. He moved into the Spanish Moto2 series in 2012, finishing sixth.
Moto2
In 2012 wild-card Syahrin led during the middle stages of Malaysian Grand Prix on his way to fourth place. The result was later promoted to a third-place finish, after Anthony West's results were expunged in November 2013. In 2013, Syahrin made several more wildcard appearances. He scored a point at his home race in Malaysia.
Syahrin moved into Moto2 full-time in 2014, riding a Kalex for the Petronas Raceline Malaysia team.
Career statistics
By season
| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Moto2 | Moriwaki | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2012 | Moto2 | FTR | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 23rd |
| 2013 | Moto2 | Kalex | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29th |
| 2014 | Moto2 | Kalex | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 19th |
| 2015 | Moto2 | Kalex | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 16th |
| 2016 | Moto2 | Kalex | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13* | 4th* |
| Total | 43 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 136 |
* Season still in progress.
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Moto2 | Moriwaki | QAT | SPA | POR | FRA | CAT | GBR | NED | ITA | GER | CZE | IND | RSM | ARA | JPN | AUS | MAL 20 |
VAL | NC | 0 | |
| 2012 | Moto2 | FTR | QAT | SPA | POR | FRA | CAT | GBR | NED | GER | ITA | IND | CZE | RSM | ARA | JPN | MAL 3 |
AUS | VAL | 23rd | 16 | |
| 2013 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT | AME | SPA | FRA 21 |
ITA | CAT 18 |
NED | GER | IND | CZE | GBR | RSM | ARA | MAL 15 |
AUS | JPN | VAL Ret |
29th | 1 | |
| 2014 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 15 |
AME 15 |
ARG 20 |
SPA 21 |
FRA 15 |
ITA 25 |
CAT Ret |
NED 10 |
GER 18 |
IND 7 |
CZE 13 |
GBR 8 |
RSM 20 |
ARA 11 |
JPN 8 |
AUS Ret |
MAL Ret |
VAL 16 |
19th | 42 |
| 2015 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 12 |
AME 6 |
ARG 10 |
SPA 12 |
FRA 9 |
ITA Ret |
CAT 14 |
NED 15 |
GER 16 |
IND Ret |
CZE 14 |
GBR 16 |
RSM 18 |
ARA 7 |
JPN 5 |
AUS 16 |
MAL 8 |
VAL Ret |
16th | 64 |
| 2016 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 4 |
ARG 6 |
AME 16 |
SPA 11 |
FRA |
ITA |
CAT |
NED |
GER |
GBR |
AUT |
CZE |
RSM |
ARA |
MAL |
JPN |
AUS |
VAL |
8th* | 28* |
* Season still in progress.
References
- ↑ "PETRONAS Talent Development: Rider Profile – Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah". petmos.com.my. Petronas Motorsports. Retrieved 18 October 2012.