Competing as a wildcard entry, the PETRONAS MIE Racing RW Team and home riders Azroy Hakeem Anuar (#20) and Muhammad Helmi Azman (#55) took to the PETRONAS Sepang International Circuit on Saturday for Moto2 qualifying.

Earlier in the day, Anuar and Azman benefitted from a final practice, which ran in dry, cloudy conditions. This 30-minute phase provided a final opportunity to make technical modifications to setup ahead of qualifying. Both riders ran a strong session and, with respect to their respective best of Friday, were able to find more than one full second each, with Anuar putting in a 2’06.806 and Azman setting an almost identical 2’06.866.

At 13.40 local time (CET+6), it was time for the all-important qualifying session, which was again characterised by high temperatures and humidity. Working hard to maximise this 15-minute stage, the two PETRONAS MIE Racing RW riders did their best to set a strong qualifying time in this highly competitive class but were not quite able to replicate their practice times. Each completed their fastest lap in the final seconds, with Anuar recording a 2’07.187 and Azman a 2’08.330. These results mean that the two local riders have qualified on row ten of the grid, in twenty-ninth and thirtieth position respectively, for the race. 

The PETRONAS MIE Racing RW Team now turns its attention to Sunday’s race, which will get underway at 13.15 local time (CET+6) and run over a distance of 17 laps.

Azroy Hakeem Anuar #20

“We made some changes before practice and I felt better right away, riding with used tyres. We then switched to fresh tyres and, with a few more adjustments, I was able to set some strong times and felt ready for qualifying. I set a good time at the start of qualifying but unfortunately got the yellow flag through the last corner and so that time was cancelled. I then went back out on fresh tyres but with no group to follow, I had to set a time by myself. Overall, we’ve worked well so far, improving session by session. I think we’re ready for the race tomorrow.”

Muhammad Helmi Azman #55

“I’m happy with how practice went, as we were able to make a big improvement. We set up the bike well and I felt that my confidence was growing, which allowed me to set times better than those of 2024. In qualifying we had a little setback though, so despite our best efforts, we couldn’t improve further on those earlier times. I’m looking forward to the race, as I think we can still improve a lot.”