The title chase for the 2020 PETORNAS Malaysian Cub Prix Championship finally came to a close with Mohd Helmi Azman (Hi Rev SCK Honda Racing), Mohd Syafiq Rosli (PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha Maju Motor) and Rahimi Nabil Razu (PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha Maju Motor) confirmed as CP150, CP125 and Wira KBS champions respectively.
The final showdown in the CP150 premiere class began with the two title contenders, Mohd Helmi Azman and Azroy Hakeem Anuar at the front of the grid. However, neither riders benefitted from the coveted starting position when they were immediately swamped up the rest of the 24-rider grid as soon as the CP150 final race was flagged off.
Both Honda riders were obviously on different strategies. Azroy focused on staying consistent at the top end of the pack while Helmi hunkered down in mid-pack. Helmi bided his time until Lap 7 before he went from ninth to first within a single lap.
The tussle between Helmi and Azroy in the final three laps were further complicated by the sheer size of the front group. As the chequered flag came down at the end of 11 laps, it was Mohd Khairul Ikhwan Ajis who lived up to his dark-horse status to score a surprise win with 14’41.976s. 0.001 seconds behind Khairul, Mohd Akid Aziz swept home in second place.
Azroy followed in third, notching up his sixth podium of the season. However, even that was not enough for the Idemitsu Yuzy Honda Racing team rider to realize his dream of becoming the 2020 CP150 champion.
A fifth place finish was good enough to place the CP150 trophy into Mohd Helmi Azman’s hands. This would be Helmi’s first domestic title. The 21-year-old was the 2018 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship Underbone 150cc champion. Apart from gifting Honda with their first CP150 title since the class was introduced in 2017, Helmi has effectively ended team Hi Rev SCK Honda Racing’s title drought since 2012.
“I am so grateful to my team, our crew, my family and of course our sponsors, for making all this possible. I was actually pretty disappointed by the results from this final round. I wanted to seal the title with a podium finish but things got really hectic in the last lap,” said Helmi who won the championship with 143 points. At the same time, team Hi Rev SCK Honda Racing also liftedn the CP150 Team Award title with 192 points after eight rounds.
A bitterly disappointed Azroy Hakeem Anuar had to settle for seconds while Mohd Muzakkir Mohamed from the ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team ended the year in third.
In the CP125 category, the three-way battle between Mohd Syafiq Rosli (PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha-Maju Motor), Mohd Shafiq Rasol (ONEXOX TKKR Racing Team) and Mohd Adib Rosley (IPONE Yamaha YY Pang Racing) ended in Syafiq Rosli’s favour. The Maju Motor rider finished the race in fifth, just enough to put him at the top of the championship ladder. Shafiq Rasol crumbled under pressure and crashed out of Lap 3 while Adib Rosley finished a distant seventh.
The final CP125 race of the season was won by IPONE Yamaha YY Pang Racing Team duo Mohd Khairi Asyraf Mahmood and Mohd Fareez Afeez Abd Rahman.
Finally, Rahimi Nabil Razu suceeded in his mission to take home a second consecutive Wira KBS title for team PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha-31 Racing. The PETRONAS Sprinta Pro-Am Cup title was won by Mohd Asyraf Daniel Mohd Zamri.