Motor Sports

Historic ATC Cup win for Hakim

KUALA LUMPUR: Hakim Danish Ramli made history as the first Malaysian rider to win the Asia Talent Cup (ATC) championship title today.

Hakim, who started from third on the grid, showed great maturity to finish second at the season ender (race two) in Mandalika behind Indonesian Veda Ega Pratama.

Hakim's only rival for the title was Japan's Shinya Ezawa who was six points adrift going into the race. Shinya crossed the line third while ATC rookie Farish Hafiy Farid Sezli finished fifth.

Hakim, 15, had a great start and briefly led in the first few laps before being joined by Veda.

The Terengganu-born rider smartly worked together with Veda to open up a gap over the rest of the field and with 10 laps to go, the duo held a four-second advantage over the chasing pack which included Shinya.

Hakim resisted any temptations to fight Veda for the race win and played it safe in the closing laps to cross the finish line second and wrap up the title.

The ATC is a feeder series for the world championships, and many of its past winners such as Kaito Toba, Ayumu Sasaki and Deniz Oncu have gone on to impress in Moto3.

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