Hakim Danish will return to Sepang this weekend with the chance to achieve something no Malaysian rider has managed at their home Grand Prix: a World Championship race victory.
Malaysia has hosted motorcycle Grands Prix since 1991, first at Shah Alam and then Johor before the event moved to Sepang in 1999.
Local riders have delivered memorable performances across those venues in over three decades, but none has come closer to winning than Zulfahmi Khairuddin in the 2012 Moto3 race.
Starting from pole position at Sepang, Zulfahmi led into the final lap before Sandro Cortese passed him in the closing stages. The Malaysian finished just 0.028s behind the German, whose victory secured the inaugural Moto3 world title.
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That same weekend also produced a home podium in Moto2, but Hafizh Syahrin had to wait to receive it.
The wildcard rider crossed the line fourth in wet conditions but was later promoted to third after Australia’s Anthony West was disqualified following an anti-doping case.
Hafizh went on to become Malaysia’s first full-time MotoGP rider. In his debut premier-class season in 2018, he climbed from the back of the grid to finish 10th at Sepang.
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While a home victory has remained elusive, Malaysian riders have reached the top step elsewhere.
Khairul Idham Pawi became the country’s first Grand Prix winner in Argentina in 2016, before adding another Moto3 victory in Germany that year. Malaysia then waited almost a decade for its next winner, with Hakim ending that run at Brno in June.
That breakthrough came during his first full season in Moto3, less than a year after making his World Championship debut as a wildcard at Sepang. His first home appearance showed promise, with the fastest lap of the race, but ended in retirement because of a technical problem.
Hakim now returns as a Grand Prix winner, hoping to turn last year’s pace into a result and give Malaysia a first victory on home soil.
Fans can watch the Malaysian Grand Prix live on SPOTV NOW.
