The PETRONAS MIE Racing RW Team is competing as a wildcard entry in the Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia, fielding Malaysian talents Azroy Hakeem Anuar (#20) and Muhammad Helmi Azman (#55) in the Moto2 class.

The weekend’s action at the PETRONAS Sepang International Circuit began on Friday morning with a first free practice, which ran in typically hot and humid conditions. The two riders wasted no time in setting to work, keen to maximise every session as they get ready for the weekend’s race. During this first 40-minute phase, the team saw some initial progress as the riders began to rebuild confidence and feeling with their Kalex machines. Completing 14 and 15 laps respectively, Anuar placed twenty-ninth with a time of 2’08.023, while Azman followed right behind in thirtieth position (2’08.933).

Temperatures picked up for the afternoon’s second session (air temp. 30°C/track temp. 36°C), delayed by 40 minutes after an issue in the previous Moto3 session. Once on track, Anuar and Azman continued to work with their technicians to prepare for Sunday’s race, making small adjustments to the technical setup of their bikes. 

Unfortunately, Anuar immediately suffered a crash which, although innocuous, caused him to lose valuable track time. Back out with roughly 20 minutes still on the clock, the local rider did his best in the time remaining. Improving by a fraction of a second on his earlier performance, despite the higher temperatures, the Malaysian again rounded out the session twenty-ninth (2’07.953). By the end of this first day on track at Sepang, teammate Azman held thirtieth position, having shaved off a good six tenths with respect to the morning (2’08.279).

The team will return to the track on Saturday for a final practice followed by qualifying in the afternoon, at 13.40 local time (CET+6).

Azroy Hakeem Anuar #20

“The goal this morning was to find confidence on the throttle and brakes. We made a few changes throughout the session, with my best time coming after making those adjustments. I felt a lot better at the start of the second session but then unfortunately made a mistake, running onto a wet patch and crashing as a result. We worked hard to repair the bike fast, but the feeling wasn’t quite the same when I went back out. Things improved a little once we switched the tyre, but I’m a bit disappointed because I know we can do more. Hopefully we can regain the feeling tomorrow – let’s see what we can do.”

Muhammad Helmi Azman #55

“In FP1, I tried to get back into a rhythm on the bike and find feeling. It doesn’t feel bad, not too different to last year, and my references are already better than those of last year’s FP1. We made a few electronics adjustments for the second session, and my feeling on the bike was much better. Now we’ll check the data and keep working so that we can take another step tomorrow.”