Motor Sports

Moto2's Hafizh gets new team, new chassis

Moto2's Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah is eager to begin a new chapter in his career after suffering a disappointing season in the intermediate class this year.

Hafizh, who rode for Inde Aspar Team this year, admitted that the horror crash at the Austrian Motorcycle Grand Prix in August shattered his confidence.

The high-speed crash at the Red Bull Ring, which saw his bike smashed to pieces, caused heavy bruising to the Ampang-born rider.

As a result, he was forced to skip the subsequent Styrian GP.

"It was just not my year," said Hafizh, who finished the season in 21st place with 21 points.

"I was just beginning to gain momentum after notching some decent results in testing and at Jerez (sixth place) and Brno (ninth).

"But, then I suffered that big crash in Austria, and it affected my confidence.

"After that (Austria), my results started to decline, and it was tough to get that feeling back.

"However, I want to start afresh with my new team, NTS RW Racing GP, and do better than the recent season.

The Dutch-based NTS are the only Moto2 team using the Japanese NTS chassis.

NTS are considered newcomers to the intermediate class having joined Moto2 in 2018, and one of the reasons Hafizh has been roped in is to help with chassis development.

"It is a bit hard for me to comment on my (season) expectations for now as the NTS chassis has only been used in Moto2 for three years," added Hafizh.

"However, if you look at their results from this year, they had recorded several top-10 finishes.

"I had a good feeling on the bike during our recent test session at Jerez, despite the mixed track conditions (damp circuit).

"I did 71 laps and gave my feedback to the engineers. The NTS factory in Japan is making changes to the chassis.

"The team have strong factory support.

"Although they are relatively new in Moto2, NTS are well-established in motorsports as they were previously involved in Formula One."

Hafizh added that he would not be surprised if the NTS chassis becomes more popular on the Moto2 grid in the future.

The intermediate class is dominated by Kalex with more than 20 riders using the chassis from the German manufacturer.

The new season begins with the Qatar GP on March 26-28 at the Losail International Circuit.

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