Local MotoGP rider Hafizh Syahrin have impressed his current Tech3 team enough to sign him for another year. He had to work for it, and despite only getting the invite to ride for Tech3 mere weeks before this season’s race in Bahrain, Hafizh performed well as a rookie crossed the finishing line with points.

“Today is a very special day for me and for the whole Tech3 team! Since Hafizh jumped on our MotoGP bike, it’s been like a dream, every single day, because he’s been very fast and a lot faster than some people were thinking and we’ve been very proud of what he did,” said his boss and Tech3 team manager, Herve Poncharal.

For the 24-year old Malaysian, he had this to say, “First of all, I have to say thank you very much to Herve for trusting in me and giving me this opportunity to stay with the Tech3 family and at the same time to join the KTM family. I also have to express a huge thank you to my manager Dato' Razlan, who helped me to achieve this dream arriving in the MotoGP class, plus thank you to KTM for believing in Herve and in me. I will work hard for 2019 and I’ll be better prepared, as this is not as surprising as this season. I’m incredibly happy to get this chance, I even feel close to cry for joy.”

The 2019 season will be extra special as Tech3 have split with long-time partner Yamaha and will race a factory-spec KTM RC16 bike. As Dato’ Razlan Razali, CEO of SIC commented, “He’s a factory rider and how often can we say that we have a Malaysian who has a factory ride in MotoGP, so we are very happy and of course we look forward for him to come to Sepang and wearing the new Tech3 KTM colours in 2019.”