KUALA LUMPUR: The absence of experienced Ahmad Fuad Baharuddin will be sorely felt by the Espada Motobert Yamaha Racing team when the second round of the Petronas AAM Malaysia Cup Prix revs off at Stadium Sultan Ibrahim in Muar on Thursday.
Team principal Rosnizam Mohd Noor said that Fuad’s retirement had affected the team but they were doing all they could to restore order and find a successor.
The 34-year-old Fuad, who ended last season with his third CP130 championship title with Motobert, announced his retirement before the season began – marking an end to his 15-year service.
With Fuad in the fray, the team had finished third overall in the CP130 for the past two seasons.
Fuad has now shifted his attention to developing the next generation of riders.
Rosnizam admitted that Fuad’s technical expertise and leadership were the team’s greatest loss as these were the qualities that had propelled them to great heights since the team were formed in 2011.
Following Fuad’s departure and Ahmad Fazrul Sham’s move to SCK Racing, Motobert reshuffled their entire line-up and recruited Mohd Emir Firdaus Hasan, Mohd Fhahmin Abdul Mutalib and Mohd Rozaliman Zakaria to beef up the team’s challenge for this season.
While Rosnizam has enough faith in his new line-up, he admitted that it would take them some time before they could fully adapt to the team and cope with the pressures of competing in the CP130.
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