The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Nabil can wrap up JK Racing Asia title in New Delhi this weekend
- Yamaha’s Hafiz ready to fend off rival in Penang
- National team whip Canada to stay unbeaten
| Nabil can wrap up JK Racing Asia title in New Delhi this weekend Posted: 27 Nov 2012 05:36 PM PST PETALING JAYA: Malaysian motorsport has had plenty to celebrate this year, with Zulfahmi Khairuddin's two podium achievements in Moto3, Jazeman Jaafar's runner-up finish in the British F3 Championships and Karamjit Singh retaining his FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship 2WD title. But wait, there's more to come as Nabil Jeffri is on the verge of making history as only the second Malaysian to win the prestigious single-seater series in Asia this weekend. Nabil will fly to India today for the season finale of the JK Racing Asia series this weekend where he will bid to keep his championship lead at the end of the four races at Buddh International Circuit in New Delhi. The 19-year-old Malaysian endured a mixed outing in his last visit there last month, when he only managed one second placing from two races. Nabil started from pole position for the second race but was given a drive-through penalty for a jump start infringement and finished eighth. He, however, stayed at the top with 188 points – 34 points ahead of his Eurointernational team-mate and fellow rival Aston Hare of South Africa. Fellow Malaysian Afiq Ikhwan, driving for Meritus GP, will have no chance to fight for the overall crown but will be ready to challenge Nabil and Hare all the way. Afiq won three of the last four races and is third with 134 points. Interestingly, all three have four race wins so far this year, with four more rounds to be decided. But Nabil is not waiting for his compatriot to do him any favours and will make a bid to seal the overall title in the first two races. "This is going to be a big weekend for me. My objective is to qualify on pole and try to win both races. "If I do that, the title will be mine. Jazeman won the overall title in 2007 and no other Malaysian has managed to win it again. "I am close now and it means a lot to win the title ... as far as my career progression is concerned. It's important to focus well for the weekend and deliver," said Nabil, who is competing in his third season in the series. Jazeman won in 2007 when it was known as the BMW Pacific Asia Series and is still the youngest winner. Qualifying takes place on Friday, followed by Races 13 and 14 on Saturday. The season wraps up with Races 15 and 16 on Sunday. |
| Yamaha’s Hafiz ready to fend off rival in Penang Posted: 27 Nov 2012 02:54 PM PST PETALING JAYA: Mohd Hafiz Nor Azman hopes to luck will be on his side when he attempts to secure the Wira crown in the season finale of the Petronas AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship at Stadium Batu Kawan, Penang, on Dec 1-2. The Mos Track Pro Yamaha Racing rider faces a huge threat from title-contender Fakhrusy Syakirin Rostam, who dominated the points table until Round 9 at the Sepang International Circuit earlier this month. Fakhrusy, of AAP Mazoil Armstrong Motorsport, was gunning for a hat-trick in Sepang, having won the two previous legs in Johor (Round 7) and Malacca (Round 8), but his good run was abruptly halted due to a crash in the qualifying session and he was excluded from the race. With Fakhrusy out of the race, a fourth-placed finish gave Hafiz the opportunity to seize control of the standings with a seven-point lead (165 points) over Fakhrusy, who dropped to second with 158 points. Motul Yamaha YY Pang's Tengku Amirul Haffiruddin is third with 123 points. This has left Hafiz hoping for luck to be on his side again in Penang this weekend. "Luck was on my side in Sepang ... hopefully, it will continue to work in my favour in the final round in Batu Kawan. I was sure Fakhrusy would open up a bigger gap in Sepang because he was unstoppable in Kluang and Malacca. But to my surprise, he crashed during the qualifying ... this proves that anything can happen during a race," said Hafiz. |
| National team whip Canada to stay unbeaten Posted: 27 Nov 2012 02:58 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia continued their impressive run in the Champions Challenge I hockey tournament when they defeated Canada 4-2 to top Group A in Quilmes, Argentina. They had beaten Poland 4-0 and South Korea 4-2 in the earlier matches and top the group with nine points. Poland finished second after coming back from a goal down to stun the top-ranked South Korea 5-4 in an earlier match yesterday to claim their first win in the tournament. It was a remarkable win for world No. 19 Poland over the Koreans, the world No. 7. Poland finished with four points while the Koreans ended up third with three points from one win and two defeats. Canada finished last with just one point from three matches. Malaysia will meet the fourth-placed team from Group B in the quarter-finals tomorrow. In yesterday's match, defender Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim gave Malaysia the lead off a penalty stroke in the seventh minute – it was his fourth goal in three matches. Four minutes later, they doubled the score through a Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin field goal. Canada reduced the deficit with a Keegan Pereira goal in the 17th minute but Malaysia made it 3-1 seven minutes later with a Faizal Saari field goal. Canada scored their second goal through Matt Guest four minutes after the break but Malaysia sealed the match with another field goal by Mohd Fitri Saari in the 56th minute. Team manager George Koshy (pic) said the national players impressed after dominating the game against Canada. "It's really nice to top the group with three impressive wins. The great thing is that the players are improving with each game and are hungry for goals," he said. "I hope they will continue to improve in the quarter-finals." George warned the players to stay focused on the quarter-final clash. "We need to win the quarter-final match to finish better than the fifth placing we achieved in South Africa last year. "We also want to continue winning to improve our world rankings," said George. Malaysia are ranked 13th in the world and the tournament offers vital points for teams to improve on their rankings. The winner will also feature in the next edition of the Champions Trophy. |
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