Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup 2015 – Malaysia holds high promise

Adam Norrodin leads the charge for Team Malaysia as the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup 2015 season resumes for Round 3 in Sepang this weekend.

After a two-month long hiatus, the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup 2015 season resumes for its third round this weekend. The series is held in conjunction with the weekend’s Malaysian leg of the eni FIM World Superbikes Championship (WSBK) race in the Sepang International Circuit.

As Friday concludes, Team Malaysia is holding high promise for good results thanks to the efforts of 17-year-old Adam Norrodin. The Batu Pahat native showed good pace in the first practice session held in the morning where he stayed close on the heels of lead Japanese rider Ayumu Sasaki and ranked second fastest with his time of 2:20.496.

Adam would eventually improve that in the second practice session held in the late afternoon. The session ended with Adam topping the time sheet after clocking in a blistering time of 2:19.282. Second fastest Sasaki was just 0.151 seconds off Adam’s pace here, and perhaps signalled his serious intent to give Adam a good fight ahead of tomorrow morning’s qualifying session.

Also showing promising signs was Pasir Gudang youngster Fakhrusy Rostam. What began as a struggle ended with improvements for Fakhrusy as he ends the day’s second practice session ranked in sixth.

However, things are not going too well for the other three – Helmi Azman, Shafiq Rasol and rookie Azroy Anuar. Helmi’s day came to a premature end after discovering a hand injury in the first practice session. He was forced to sit out of the second session after race doctors deemed him unfit to continue. Helmi’s will know his fate for the weekend tomorrow morning when race official will deliberate on whether he can take part in qualifying or not.

As for Shafiq and Azroy, both appear to be struggling with Shafiq dropping for sixth in the first session down to eleventh in the second. Azroy has shown improved laptimes, but advances no further 14th in the first outing and 15th in the second. Despite this, both riders remain hopeful on turning the tables during qualifying tomorrow.

Besides these five, two other fellow locals on the grid join Team Malaysia this weekend. The first comes in the form of Ahmad Idham Khairuddin, younger brother of national Moto3 rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin. With guidance from Fahmi, Idham is showing good pace in both sessions today and ends the day ranked in 18th in both sessions.

The second wildcard entry comes in the form of 13-year-old Luth Harith Erwan. Hacing competed in the Malaysian Cub Prix previously and Malaysian MGP3 national Moto3 cup last year, Luth marks his series debut as a wildcard this weekend. Things appear rather challenging for him as he is ranked dead last in both sessions today.

With the exception of Adam, Team Malaysia’s pace and performance is not optimal yet. Despite this, all five riders and the two wildcards appear upbeat and raring to go for tomorrow’s Qualifying session. Qualifying will take place early tomorrow morning, with Adam holding the highest promise here.

Stay tuned to out site for more updates as the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup race weekend proceeds over the next few days.