Ahmad Nashrul (second from left) and Fareez Afeez
Pengurus pasukan FELDA PB Racing, Ahmad Nashrul Baharudin menjangkakan pelumba mereka, Mohd Fareez Afeez akan lebih menyinar sebaik saingan separuh musim kedua Kejuaraan Cub Prix AAM Malaysia PETRONAS 2015 kembali bersambung di Kompleks Sukan Tuanku Syed Putra, Kangar Perlis, minggu ini.
Nashrul menjelaskan sepanjang lima pusingan lepas, Fareez telah menunjukkan prestasi cemerlang dengan meraih podium dan mengumpul 43 mata untuk berada di tangga keenam keseluruhan ketika ini.
Meskipun begitu, masih banyak kelemahan yang perlu diperbaiki bagi merapatkan jurang mata setelah ketinggalan 55 mata di belakang pendahulu, Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin (PETRONAS Yamaha Maju Motor).
Lain-lain pelumba yang berada di atas Fareez ialah Tengku Amirul Haffirudin, Ahmad Syukran Aizat, Izzat Zaidi Salehan dan Emir Firdaus Hasan.
Secara keseluruhan, Nashrul berpuas hati dengan pencapaian setakat ini memandangkan Fareez mampu memikul tanggungjawab dan tekanan berat yang terpaksa dihadapinya.
“Fareez telah mempamerkan prestasi cemerlang sepanjang lima pusingan lepas kecuali perlumbaan di Melaka. Perlumbaan di Melaka tidak begitu baik apabila Fareez terlibat dalam kemalangan pada peringkat kelayakan selain turut mengalami masalah jentera menjelang perlumbaan akhir. Selain daripada masalah tersebut, secara keseluruhannya dia telah menunjukkan peningkatan ketara berbanding musim lepas,” jelas Nashrul.
“Selepas berehat panjang, kami meletakkan harapan untuk dia meraih keputusan yang lebih baik. Kami percaya dia mempunyai pengalaman, stamina dan keupayaan untuk bersaing dengan pelumba di kelompok depan yang lebih berpengalaman. Di samping itu kami turut mempunyai tenaga pasukan yang terbaik untuk mempersiapkan jentera yang bagus. Jadi tidak ada sebarang alasan kenapa dia tidak boleh memberikan aksi terbaik,” tambahnya.
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Cuma, apa yang sedikit membimbangkan pengurus itu ialah sikap Fareez yang terlalu memaksa dalam setiap perlumbaan sehingga boleh mengundang padah terhadap dirinya sendiri.
“Fareez begitu bersemangat tinggi dalam setiap perlumbaan, dan adakalanya dia mencuba seuatu yang diluar kemampuannya. Meskipun ia sesuatu yang baik, namun seringkali membawa kepada kesilapan. Fareez perlu belajar untuk merencana strategi lebih baik dalam setiap perlumbaan. Jika dia mampu melakukannya, saya yakin dia berupaya menjadi pencabar utama untuk merebut podium dalam setiap pusingan akan datang.”

FELDA PB EXPECTING ā€˜GREAT THINGSā€™ FROM FAREEZ AFTER SEASON BREAK

Felda PB Racingā€™s principal, Ahmad Nashrul Baharudin is expecting great things from Mohd Fareez Afeez in the second half of the PETRONAS AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship season that kicks off this weekend at Stadium Syed Putra Kangar, Perlis.

Nashrul said Fareez has already exceeded expectations having scored points in three out of the first five rounds and picked up a podium finish, placing him sixth overall in the CP115 standings with 43 points.

But he is convinced Fareez still has a lot of catching up to do given the 55-point gap separating him from current championship leader, Kasma Daniel Kasmayuddin (PETRONAS Yamaha Maju Motor).Ā 

Standing between them are Tengku Amirul Haffiruddin, Ahmad Syukran Aizat, Izzat Zaidi Salehan and Emir Firdaus Hasan.

Nashrul also believes while this puts a lot of expectation on Fareezā€™s shoulders, from the outside he deals with it very well.

ā€œFareez has been strong in the first five rounds this season except for Melaka. That weekend did not go too well following multiple crashes in the qualifying and before the race we had some issues with the bike. Other than that he has adapted quite well to the competition and this is a huge step forward in comparison to last year,ā€ said Nashrul.

ā€œSo naturally we are expecting him to deliver better results in the remaining rounds. We believe with the experience, stamina and talent, he can give the usual frontrunners a run for their money and in the pit we have a strong team of engineers working on the bike,ā€ he added.

At the same time, Nashrul cautioned Fareez from pushing too hard, saying he needs to learn how to lay down a strategy.

ā€œFareez is very enthusiastic and he tends to ride beyond his capabilities. While this is good, sometimes it doesn’t always work because it leads to mistakes. Hence it is important that he (Fareez) approaches every race with a strategy. If he can master that, we are confident he can be a regular podium contender,ā€ he said.

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