TMJ keen on sponsoring Moto2 ace Hafizh Syahrin

KUALA LUMPUR: Tunku Mahkota Johor (TMJ) Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has expressed his interest in sponsoring national Moto2 ace Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah.

He said this in reply to a question by an Instagram user if he would be keen on sponsoring the rider, who currently represents the NTS RW Racing GP team.

"I am interested," was the brief reaction from the Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) football club owner during a question-and-answer session on his Instagram page yesterday.

The 27-year-old rider is currently in 21st spot in the Moto2 individual standings with eight points. He is scheduled to compete in round seven of the Moto2 Catalunya Grand Prix (GP) in Barcelona, Spain, with the qualifying session slated for tonight and the race proper tomorrow.

Hafizh recorded his best result for this season last Sunday when he came in ninth at the Italian GP at the Mugello Circuit.

SPORTS-TUNKU ISMAIL (HAFIZH) 2 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR

Starting from 20th position on the grid, the Selangor-born ace rode superbly to overtake one rider after another to be in eighth spot in the final lap.

However, he was overtaken by American Racing Dream's Cameron Beaubier at the finish line, thus ending in ninth spot - 34.849 seconds behind winner Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who clocked 39:17.667.

Remy's teammate, Raul Fernandez (+0.014) was second, while Sky Racing Team's Marco Bezzecchi (+8.021) was third.

Hafizh can still hold his head up high that, with the upgrades done to his bike, he managed to finish among the top 10 for the first time this season and chalk up seven points.

-- BERNAMA