Hakim finishes fourth in thrilling Sepang Moto3 race

Standing tall: National Moto3 rider Hakim Danish Ramli in action. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

SEPANG: National rider Hakim Danish Ramli missed out on a podium finish but still had every reason to smile.

The young rider delivered a strong performance to finish fourth in the Moto3 race at the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday after a thrilling battle to the line at the Sepang International Circuit.

The 19-year-old, who started the race in third place, stayed with the leading pack throughout the 15-lap race, but fell short of a podium, coming in fourth behind Spanish rider Alvaro Carpe in third.

Maximo Quiles of Spain won the race with a time of 33:07.634s, while Indonesian rider Veda Pratama finished second, 3.734s behind.

Carpe was just 4.184s off Quiles’ time, while Hakim was just 4.410s away.

Hakim, riding a KTM for the Aeon Credit-MT Helmets-MSi Racing Team, was proud of his gritty performance on track, especially after enduring a difficult run in recent races.

“Of course, I wanted to be on the podium but just missed it. I tried my best but overshot the final corner,” said Hakim.

“Overall, I’m happy with how it went after giving all I could during the race.

“The other riders on Honda bikes had a slight advantage here in Sepang because there are many high-speed corners, which helped them.

“I tried to keep up, and I know I can deliver better at the next race.”

It was the best finish for Hakim in the last six races, after only managing a ninth-place finish in Austria last month while he ended outside the top 10 in the other races.

Hakim was also the first Malaysian to start on the front row of a Moto3 race on home soil since manager and mentor Zulfahmi Khairuddin took pole in 2012 before finishing the race in second.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Moto4 Asia Cup rider Qabil Irfan finished Race Two in Sepang in fifth place.

Indonesia celebrated a double podium as Bintang Pranata came out top while compatriot Resky Yusuf came in third with Japan’s Hayato Chishiki in second.

Fellow Malaysian Qayyim Razin, who finished third in Race One in third place, came in eighth place.