Khairul Idham Pawi | Photo credits: Otorace
During the Petronas Yamaha SRT team launch that happened recently in Kuala Lumpur, at the famous Petronas Twin Towers, we got the chance to know the full extension of the team effort in Grand Prix racing for the next season. And while the MotoGP class is getting the most exposure, there’s another point where we can focus our attention: Khairul Idham Pawi.
The 20-year-old Malaysian racer will be racing for the Petronas Sprinta Racing in Moto2, a third season in this class for Pawi, and not only will be trying to get back on his winning day of 2016, when he won in Moto3 in his rookie season, but will be focused on doing a good job in order to impress the Petronas Yamaha SRT team boss Razlan Razali.
Sepang circuit CEO, who also doubles as Petronas Yamaha SRT team manager, said that he really wants Khairul Idham Pawi to become the first Malaysian rider to be part of his team, and says that he still is a Malaysian treasure
“Pawi’s still our national treasure, as the only Malaysian to win a grand prix race. He came to visit our MotoGP in Valencia. We showed him the team and said ‘look, you have two years to do something because we want you to be our first Malaysian MotoGP rider in this team’. That should give him the encouragement to be really motivated, focused and work hard. Because he knows if he does well, there is a natural progression now within our structure to MotoGP. It’s there waiting”, said Razali.
With this news, and looking at Khairul Idham Pawi as a value for the future of their MotoGP project, the Petronas Yamaha SRT team will also be helping the young Malaysian talent to develop his riding through the season. For that, they’ve named Torleif Hartelman as his coach, with the mission to help Pawi to understand what he does best, and when he’s not so good.
If in fact Khairul Idham Pawi delivers the results expected of him, in 2021 he might join Hafizh Syahrin in MotoGP, showing that Malaysian riders are getting better and better and able to be racing with the best riders in the world.