Malaysian wildcard riders Azroy Hakeem Anuar and Helmi Azman remain upbeat despite a difficult opening day at the Moto2 of MalaysianGP at the Sepang International Circuit, Sepang.
Both riders, representing the Petronas MIE Racing RW Team, finished 29th and 30th fastest respectively after the two combined free practice sessions on Friday, as they faced the challenge of adapting to the powerful Moto2 machines in front of their home crowd.
Helmi, who ended the day 30th fastest, 4.113 seconds off the pace from the session leader, admitted that the lack of consistent race experience was a major factor — but insisted he would not use it as an excuse.
“Today’s sessions went smoothly with no issues on the bike, and that’s the most important thing,” Helmi said. “It’s not easy for us to ride this type of machine just once a year and immediately compete against riders who race them every weekend.”
“What matters most is that we’ve gathered valuable data and experience. We’re now studying the information collected and hope to improve our lap times tomorrow,” he added confidently.
Meanwhile, teammate Azroy Hakeem was involved in a highside crash during the Free Practice 2 (FP2) session but fortunately escaped without serious injuries.
In the earlier FP1 session, Azroy managed 29th fastest (+3.787s), though his performance slightly dropped in FP2 (+3.892s), as both riders continued adjusting to the Moto2 bike setup and race rhythm.
The day’s best times were set by Manuel Gonzalez of Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP, who topped FP2 with 2:04.166s, while Jake Dixon of ELF Marc VDS Racing led FP1 with 2:04.131s.
Despite the gap to the front runners, both Azroy and Helmi maintain that their participation is about more than results — it’s about development, exposure, and national pride.
As Malaysia’s home representatives in the Moto2 category, the duo’s focus will shift toward using Saturday’s sessions to refine their performance and gain further experience competing against some of the world’s best intermediate-class riders at Sepang.
Credit Photo : MIE Racing
