Norizman Ismail has no intention of playing it safe this weekend as he looks to secure his maiden Underbone 130cc title in the PETRONAS Asia Road Racing Championship season finale at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.
This is the first time in two years Norizman heads into the final round with a chance of winning the championship having fell out of contention in the penultimate round in the past two seasons.
The Harian Metro Y-TEQ SCK Honda Racing rider is currently ranked second overall in the standings 20 points adrift championship leader, Gupita Kresna who leads the standings with 148 points while T.Pro Yuzy Honda’s Taiga Hada holds third overall with 113 points.
Apart from the top three, others who are still in contention for the title includes Kazuki Masaki, Ahmad Fazli Sham, Amirul Ariff Musa, Rozaiman Mohd Said and Affendi Rosli
From Norizman’s personal perspective, the Honda rider knows he cannot afford to rest on any laurels and pick up comfortable points, and at the same time hope his rivals endure difficulties.
“It will be a do or die situation in Losail. I come into the weekend to try and win as I do in every other race. Playing it safe and missing out on the podium is not an option,” said Norizman.
He added, “It has been way too long since a Malaysian last won the underbone title with Affendi being the last in 2009. So I have every intention of bringing the title home. We are in a good position now and I will go all out and try to finish ahead of Gupita and the rest of my competitors who are still in the running for the title.”
The 28-year old is further boosted knowing his Honda has what it takes to be competitive under the Losail Circuit floodlights.
“Losail is a good track for Honda given its flowy nature. We also have some good memories stepping on the podium here and I believe the engineers can prepare a competitive bike. All of this elements helps boost my confidence for the race this weekend.”
