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Sports

Sunday October 18, 2009

Malaysia’s Zamri in second spot behind SuperSports leader

By TONY YEE

ZHUHAI: Thailand’s Chalermpol Polamai will head the SuperSports 600cc grid in Round 5 of the Petronas FIM Asian Grand Prix at the Zhuhai International Circuit today.

The Petronas Sprinta Yamaha Thailand rider’s best lap time of 1:40.489 in the first qualifying session on Friday was good enough to put him in the front row as yesterday’s second qualifying session was topped by Malaysia’s Mohd Zamri Baba in 1:40.564.

Zamri, of Petronas Sprinta Yamaha Malaysia, will start second on the grid, followed by China’s Ho Chi Fung (1:40.579).

Chalermpol could only finish fifth fastest yesterday in 1:40.850 and this has given Zamri the motivation to give the Thai, the overall race leader, a run for his money today.

“It will all depend on (me getting) a very good start. That’s what I will be focusing on to gain an early advantage tomorrow (today),” said Zamri.

“Chalermpol, like all the great Thai riders, is most difficult to catch in the last five laps.”

Zamri is also wary of the threat posed by Chinese riders Chi Fung and Huang Shizhao, who is starting fourth on the grid.

“They’re racing at home and look very comfortable. With the home crowd cheering them on, one of them could end up finishing first.”

Chalermpol leads the overall standings with 120 points, two ahead of compatriot Decha Kraisart, who will be starting seventh on the grid.

Decha only managed seventh with a time of 1:41.027 due to some mechanical problems with his bike.

Zamri lies third in the overall standings on 80 points while team-mate Ahmad Fuad Baharudin, who is fifth on the grid (1:40.812), is fourth (77).

In the Underbone 115cc category, Indonesian Hokky Krisdianto of the Yamaha Petronas FDR Racing posted the best lap time of 2:11.638 in the second qualifying session yesterday to grab pole position.

Malaysia’s Mohd Iskandar Raduan of Petronas Sprinta Raceline was second quickest in 2:13.115 while his 15-year-old team-mate Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah came in third in 2:13.115.

Mohd Affendi Rosli, who leads the overall standings with 99 points, will start from the 10th spot after clocking 2:14.976.

Iskandar, while not ruling out Affendi’s chances of bouncing back today, is more concerned with the threat posed by the young Hafizh.

“He’s (Hafizh) a fierce competitor for his age. But since I’m like his big brother, he may not dare to beat me,” joked Iskandar.

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