Martin Poh and his Ducati 1098R secured his fifth placing under the overall standings despite having a good start. The rider from Team Motovation lost valuable points for not racing in Round 3 but still put on a good showing to the end. Milton Poh and Shukran Qabouli, both from the Superbikes Open, although out of contention for any podium placing, still managed to maintain consistency throughout the season. Azmi Andul, the number 64 Yamaha R6 rider also did well in the SUpersports class to obtain a respectable fourth placing after five rounds. The rider from Team UMA showed enough spunk to maintain a consistent performance as so did his compatriot, Azmi Abdul Wahid, riding a ’06 Yamaha R6 who, through grit and determination, clinched fourth place overall in the Supersports Novice category. Team UMA’s other two racers, Md Rezwan Leman and Khairun Nizam Abd Aziz also did well to finish in the middle pack.

F
inally! Malaysia’s (and Singapore’s) most coveted sportsbike racing trophy in 2009 has arrived to our shores for the keeping, courtesy of Yasuhiro Kuhara for Team HKL Singapore. May we continue our winning streak with more Singapore teams winning MSS honors in 2010!

The 2009 MSS (Malaysian Super Series) finally ended another year of spectacular racing with surprising results from all the categories. The fifth and final round on the 25th October were run as a support event for the recent Sepang MotoGP but due to time constraints and delays caused by heavy rains, three classes of the race were combined to form one Grid which included the Superbike Open, Superstock and Supersports 600. Nonetheless, track conditions and a somewhat lack of maneuvering space did not deter the riders, especially from Singapore, to give it their all and for some, a shot at the championship itself. The Singapore battalion comprising of Team HKL, Motovation, Motorworld-Singtrek, Bikelab, UMA racing, Looi’s and some privateers have definitely shown that they are a force to be reckoned with, especially when next season begins.

Beginning awith the Superbikes Open, Team HKL rider Yasuhiro Kuhara held off his rivals and despite finishing Race 2 in second place, clinched the overall title. It is a slight relief for Kuhara especially after being trailed aggressively by Malaysian’s ace Ahmad Zamani during the first three rounds of the series. HKL’s 600cc Supersports Novice rider, Mod Alseri Basiron also did very well and finished second overall for his maiden competition.

Riders from Team Motorworld-Singtrek had a fantastic season as well with Yusran Yahya claming third place overall under the 600cc Supersports Novice category. The number 29 rider has had a good season upon entering into round five but engine trouble forced Yusran to withdraw from Race 2 and thus, relinquished his second place to HKL’s Mohd Alseri. Motorworld-Singtrek’s Mohd Farhan Mali and Safarin Hasibon, racing under the 600cc Supersports Open gave a good performance to grab 9th and 12th place respectively.

Finally, racers Oliver Castillo, Md Suhaimi Jalil and Caludio Bizzoni from Team Looi’s will sure to improve next season and give their compatriot, Shaiful Bahari a good run in the standings. Coming from behind to win a hard-fought third place under the overall standings in the Supersports Open category is Shaiful Bahari aka Doctor Dol, as many would know him as. Shaiful was hit from behind by a Malaysian R1 rider in Race 1 but still managed to pick up the bike and cross the line 29th. The bike suffered damage on the rear wheel, as well as a torn tyre and Doctor Dol was given a penalty for changing the rear tyre, hence he started on Grid 58 (last) but still finished the race 13th overall. One has to be there at the MSS to really see how many riders a racer has to overtake to get to any credible position.

The full package of excitement was there in Round 5 of the MSS – crashes, mishaps, engine failure and heavy rain, “all-in-a-day’s-work” in the domain of motorcycle racing. According to Dr Dol, as with the time constraint after the MotoGP