PROFILE: AFIF TO TAKE ONE RACE AT A TIME
18 September 2012

An up and down performance in the 2012 PETRONAS AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship has prompted Ahmad Afif Amran to set aside his overall goals for this season and take one race at a time, starting with Round 7 in Kluang, Johor.

The CKJ Yamaha Racing rider has had a bad run in the first half of the season to finish just two races in Terengganu (Round 2) and Muar (Round 6) on the podium while the remaining four legs yielded only DNF (Did Not Finish) or DNQ (Did Not Qualify) results.

Afif's form in the PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) seems much better. He consistently finished four out the six Underbone 115cc races among top five and had successfully scored two runner-up podiums in Zhuhai (Round 3) and Japan (Round 4).

"I don't want to over think about my goals to finish top five overall this season. I believe it's already too late given my inconsistent pace. From here onwards, my focus is to take one race at a time and try to finish in the highest posible position," said Afif.

The 17-year old went on to add, "My biggest flaw right now is crashing in the final moments of the race. This happens a lot. I feel that my lack of experience causes me to crack under pressure, particularly since this is my maiden year competing in the CP115. But on the brightside I've picked up a lot of new knowledge especially from fighting with Asia's best Underbone riders in the ARRC which has done a lot to build my confidence."

When asked about his strong performance in the ARRC which takes place on fully-dedicated circuits compared to the narrow Cub Prix tracks, Afif commented, "A strong machine is definitely important when it comes to racing but that does not mean I'm over-dependent on it. Just that my luck has not been so good in Cub Prix compared to the ARRC. In fact, I've proven my capabilities to finish on the podium twice in Terengganu and Muar. Hopefully, I can keep up the momentum for this weekend's race in Kluang," said Afif who is placed 11th in the standings with 32 points.

Shahril Izzuwan Mohd Noor (PETRONAS Syntium  Moto Yamaha AHM) leads the CP115 standings with 91 points while Ahmad Abdul Kadir (Apido Yamaha Boon Kui) comes in second with 84 points and Mohd Amirul Ariff Musa (Pachie Yuzy Honda Racing) third, 82 points.

Issued by Global PR Sdn Bhd
Copyright to Safe Aim Mutual Sdn Bhd