PETRONAS Talents Vying for Glory in European Championships

This weekend marks an eventful week for PETRONAS Talent Development Programme as three out of four talents, Jazeman Jaafar, Nabil Jeffri and Hafizh Syahrin prepare for races in Belgium and Italy.  

At the top of the list, Jazeman is set to compete at the Spa-Franchorchamps circuit in Belgium for Round 3 of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. The Fortec Motorsport driver currently leads the championship standings and is in a confident mood following his recent victory at the Monaco street circuit that saw him dominate the 21-lap race, which he started from pole.

“After such an awesome weekend in Monaco, I am feeling on top of the world and planning to stay there. It was long overdue for me to get a race win and now that I have one I want more, and quickly. Although Monaco is one of my favorite tracks, Spa comes a close second. It’s totally different but I’m just as much at home with this sort of circuit as I am on street tracks, so I need to get my car hooked quickly and get the power down to keep myself ahead of my rivals,” said a satisfied Jazeman.

Bruce Jouanny, Jazeman’s coach added that after having always performed well in Monaco, Jazeman’s win was a great achievement. “We are now heading straight into another race weekend in Spa, and I know Jazeman is eager for another win. The target for Spa is to achieve podium again to score points.”

Nabil, the other half of the four-wheel portfolio under the PETRONAS Talent Development Programme, will be making his way to the Monza Circuit in Italy with hopes of progressing in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.  At his last race in France, the Motopark driver impressed audiences with his determined fight from the back of the field to finish Race 1 in 18th position, Race 2 in 17th and finally gained two positions ahead in Race 3 in 15th.

“I feel focused and ready for Monza.  Even though it’s my first time here, I feel that it will be a good weekend for us. There are some areas that needs to be improved but we will continue to learn at every race.  We’ve spent one week training at Formula Medicine and I spent some time in the simulator so I’m hoping for a good weekend here in Monza,” said Nabil.

Optimistic about the upcoming weekend, Sayed Alfeizal, Personal Manager to Nabil Jeffri said that, Nabil has been training hard during the break since the last race in Pau. “Monza is a fast track and the driver needs to be at the highest level mentally and physically to finish top 10 in Monza.”

Meanwhile, Hafizh heads to Mugello for the sixth round of the Moto2 World Championship eager to maintain his game despite feeling slightly under the weather. The 21-year old Cub Prix champion is determined to improve his standing and reaffirm his position with the championship frontrunners.  To date, Hafizh has scored three top-10 finishes from the first five rounds and is currently ranked 10th overall in the standings.

“I was down with a fever but I am feeling better now,” said the rider adding that the tough and challenging circuit means he would need to be at his very best throughout the weekend. 

“We need to work and ensure that we utilise every session to the fullest. The new suspension parts that we used in Le Mans are working well and I do hope we can use that to our advantage. Wish me luck as I would like to finish as high as possible, collect more points and move up on the overall standing,” he said. 

PETRONAS Raceline Manager, Barry Leong revealed that the team is looking at new approaches for the weekend.

“This circuit is his least favorite circuit so we would like to be able to react fast and get both Hafizh and the bike in the best condition from the get go so that he will be able focus more on tackling the circuit.”

Team PETRONAS Raceline Malaysia is at the Mugello Circuit in Scarperia for the 6th round of the MotoGP.  With the good results so far, the team is again looking at continuing the great run at the 5.245km circuit.  

To succeed at the highest level of motorsports is incredibly challenging that even the best drivers and riders require strong team support to compete at international championships. The PETRONAS Talent Development Programme was created to provide this support to talented young locals.

Through strategic partnerships with the talents and teams, PETRONAS has played a key role in providing the platform for Malaysian talents to realize their potential and compete in the global motorsports arena; and contribute to the growth of motorsports and the nation.

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