IPOH: Nor Azman Mad Darus, the father of motorcycling star, Mohd Hafiz Nor Azman who died during a competition yesterday, has called for a probe into the incident.
Nor Azman Mad Darus, 54, a former motorcycle racer himself, said he hopes the concerned parties will look into the incident to ensure it does not happen again.
Hafiz, 22, was killed in a freak accident during the Petronas AAM Malaysian Cub Prix championships at Dataran Bandar Penawar, Johor, yesterday.
The tragedy happened at about 4pm during the last lap of the 20-lap race when Hafiz was riding for Petronas Sprinta Yamaha-CKJ Racing in the CP150 event.
The accident was believed to have happened when a rider in front of Hafiz hit a barrier at the side of the track, causing a piece of it to fly into the middle of the track.
Hafiz was unable to avoid the object and it caused him to crash. He became unconscious and died at Hospital Kota Tinggi.
A distraught Nor Azman said: “Was the track safe or not? I hope the relevant parties will look into the incident to prevent another tragedy.
“I felt the track was a little lacking in terms of safety.”
Former national rider Wazi Abdul Hamid, who attended the funeral, echoed Nor Azman's sentiments.
“There needs to be an in depth investigation to determine how the incident happened and it (investigation) needs to include all parties, not only the organisers but also the riders as well as specialists in this field so that it does not happen again.
“If it happened due to carelessness then this is wrong. This can be looked into detail through a special committee."
Wazi added that Hafiz's death is a huge loss to the sport. “I have known Hafiz since he was small and he was very close to my child. We have not only lost a star at the national level but also a champion who had represented Perak and Lembah Kinta who had helped raise the profile of the sport.”