SEPANG: Former Moto3 rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin is very happy that his dream of racing in Moto2 will finally become a reality.
Last year, Zulfahmi ended his involvement in the Superbike World Championship (WSBK) and initially for this year took up the role of mentor for Sepang International Circuit’s (SIC) reality television show ‘Impian ke MotoGP’.
However, who would have thought that luck would be on his side enabling him to return to the world stage of motorcycle racing when his name was announced as the replacement for Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah, who at present is being hotly linked with a team that will be competing in the premier MotoGP class, team Monster Yamaha Tech3.
Zulfahmi, 26, will take Hafizh ‘s place in the SIC Racing Team, and his first outing for official Moto2 testing will take place at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain on Tuesday.
"It is something truly amazing and extraordinary to receive such an opportunity,” said Zulfahmi. “I am very thankful to SIC, especially SIC chief executive officer Datuk Razlan Razali for the strong, continued support, faith, trust and belief shown to me.
"I am very happy to return to the MotoGP paddock. In Spain (Valencia), I will be focused on my ride and how well adjusted I am with the Moto2 machine so that I can be as fast and as quick as possible.
"I do not feel that it is a big leap for me for the Supersport class to Moto2; but it will definitely be a tough challenge and I will need to be as prepared and focused as I can.
"I am determined to collect as much data as possible and provide the necessary feedback during testing before we carry out one more in Sepang the following week.”
Zulfahmi burst into the scene back in 2009, taking part in the 125cc class until 2011 before it was revamped to Moto3.
The rider, who hails from Banting, Selangor, then took part in WSBK, competing in the Supersport class from 2016 till last year.