Musical chairs season in the 2018 MotoGP is now upon us, and rumours are flying fast and furious about who might be going where. Of particular interest to Malaysian MotoGP fans is the fate of Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah, better known as “El Pescao” or The Fish.
After making his debut this year with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 satellite team with team mate Johann Zarco, Hafizh does not have a contract for 2019 as yet. This is because Herve Poncheral, Tech 3 team principal, has signed with KTM Racing for the next year, and has not confirmed if Hafizh will be coming along.
So, rumour from industry source Ranga in Raffles is that Yamaha, now without a secondary team for 2019, will be bringing forth a new satellite outfit under the aegis of Petronas and Sepang International Circuit (SIC). While it is probably a given that Hafizh will be in new Yamaha team, of particular surprise is unconfirmed news that he will be joined by Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo.
We have it in good knowledge that certain Petronas and SIC officials are in Mugello this weekend, ostensibly to watch this weekend’s MotoGP but perhaps also to start the fire on this rumour. That Lorenzo will be wanting to return to Yamaha is no surprise, although him joining Valentino Rossi in the number one team will probably not happen.
Lorenzo has not been having a good time at the Ducati team this season, being out-ridden by team mate Andrea Dovizioso. Lorenzo’s performance has also been eclipsed by both last year’s MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez, as well as second-year rider Zarco, who won Rookie of the Year title in 2017.
Should this rumour come to pass, and we all know Malaysians love a good rumour, this could mean exciting times ahead for Malaysian motorsports. What do you think? Malaysia Boleh or another pie-in-the-sky enterprise? Leave a comment with your thoughts and opinions, below.
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Please make it happen as long as this team stand on their own and corporate sponsors.
If this project comes true, I hope Yamaha will provide the latest bike for the team, not like right now with Johan Zarco using 2017 bike with 2018 engine and Hafizh using 2016 bike.
Not gonna happen. Yamaha satellite team already reserved for rossi’s own future team. That’s one of the reasons why poncharal can’t stand anymore with yamaha. Rossi is like rosmah there. They treat him so special
While i am a big fan of Syahrin, its the team’s experience and collaboration that will give him a competitive package. I hope he gets an experienced crew chief and engineers that knows how to work his next bike as good as the guys he is with now, if not better. All the best Hafizh and team.