Tough for wildcard rider Khairul to adapt to Moto2 bike in three days

SEPANG: The No. 89 bike is back in action at Sepang for the Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix after a five-year absence but the owner Khairul Idham Pawi (pic) is not expecting much from this week’s campaign.

Khairul and Helmi Azman have earned wildcards to compete in the Moto2 class in the penultimate round of the world championship. The duo will ride for Japan based team Petronas Mie Racing.

Khairul, who is better known by his nickname SuperKIP, raced as a full-season rider in Moto2 between 2017 and 2019.

It was on bike No. 89 when the Perak-born grabbed headlines as a teenager in 2016 when he became the first Malaysian to win a race in the world championships.

He won two races in Moto3 that season, both in the wet.

But that was in the past and Khairul has since moved on. The 26-year-old is currently competing in the Supersport world championship.

“I am very happy to get this opportunity to race again in Moto2 thanks to Petronas,” said Khairul.

“But I have not raced in Moto2 since 2019, so I am expecting things to be very different after five years.

“Every year there are improvements made to the Moto2 bike. I am expecting both the chassis as well as the electronics to be much different compared to few years back.

“The Moto2 bikes are also very different from the production bikes I currently race in Supersport, which are similar to the bikes you see on the road.

“We did not have an opportunity to test the Moto2 bikes prior to this, so it will be quite tough to adapt in just three days.

“Honestly, I’m not expecting too much.

“But I will definitely try my best to adapt as soon as possible and will give my best for the Malaysian fans,” added Khairul, who was left on the sidelines for a long time after a finger injury that required multiple surgeries.