HAFIZH Syahrin Abdullah needs to do better than last year when the new MotoGP season kicks off in Qatar this weekend.
El Pescao, which is Hafizh’s nickname since his Moto2 days, took to Yamaha’s YZR-M1 like a fish to water in his debut season in MotoGP with French outfit Tech3.
He impressed from the start, eventually finishing second in the race for the Rookie of the Year award behind Italian Franco Morbidelli.
But it has been far from smooth sailing for the Ampang lad since Tech3, who had previously spent two decades with Yamaha, made the switch to KTM machinery this season.
Hafizh has struggled in pre-season testing, finishing last in all three sessions at the final pre-season test in Losail last month.
Hafizh, and even former teammate Johann Zarco who is now with KTM Red Bull Factory Team, have found it tough to adapt to KTM RC16’s characteristics. Hafizh’s smooth riding style was almost a perfect match for the Yamaha but he has not reaped the same rewards with the KTM, which is widely seen as a tough machine to tame.
Admitting it will be hard to challenge the frontrunners this season, Red Bull KTM Tech3 team principal Herve Poncharal believes Hafizh will essentially have to reinvent himself as a premier class rider this season.
Hafizh will compete alongside rookie Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) for Tech3 this year.
“Clearly, at the moment we are not in a position where we can challenge the top (guys), but our mission this season is to reduce the gap to the fastest riders,” said Poncharal.
“I believe in Oliveira, we have an incredible rider with a huge potential and a strong desire to be part of this project and making it move forward.
“Hafizh still has to forget a little bit about what he was doing on last year’s machine, but I think they get on very well together and they understand the importance of MotoGP for KTM”.
Hafizh, who will turn 25 in May, is optimistic of improving as the season progresses.
“We had some tough pre-season tests where we tried to adapt to the bike,” said Hafizh. “It was pretty good and I felt better and better with the bike.
“Although we were still quite slow, we believe that we can arrive at the top one day with this amazing group.
“We will keep on working hard, try to understand everything and keep the mind fresh to be ready for race day.
“Let’s see what we can do, I hope to be further up in the standings than during the preseason tests.”