Wildcards Hafiza and Ramdan ready to impress at home GP

SEPANG: Youngsters Hafiza Rofa and Ramdan Rosli have vowed to make full use of the chance to ride against the world’s best in the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix next week.

Hafiza and Ramdan, both 18, were named as the wildcard entries for this year’s Malaysian GP, which will be held at the Sepang Circuit from Oct 24-26, and they will have four other Malaysian riders on the grid come race day.

Hafiza and Ramdan will join Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Ongetta Airasia) and Amirul Hafiq Azmi (Team SIC-Ajo) in the Moto3 race while Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (Team Petronas Raceline Malaysia) and Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) will compete in the Moto2 category.

“It’s a golden opportunity for me. Not every rider gets this rare chance. This year has been a huge learning curve for me and I intend to make full use of the experience I’ve gained from my time based in Spain to produce my best in Sepang,” said Ramdan on Tuesday.

Hafiza and Ramdan are also competing in the Moto3 category of the FIM CEV Repsol Championship in Spain this year. Hafiza represents Team SIC-Ajo while Ramdan is with Team AHM Petronas.

For Kuala Terengganu-born Hafiza, his life this past year has been very much like Ramdan’s. 

“My dream is to be a world-class rider and I’m doing all I can to achieve this. I’m fortunate to have the chance to compete in Europe and work on building my career,” said Hafiza.

“What I’m really thrilled about is competing in front of my family, friends and thousands of Malaysian fans in Sepang next week. I realise that it will be tough against the top riders in the world but I have gained so much experience in Spain this past year. I’m confident of turning in a strong performance next week.”