Zulfahmi Overcomes Pain Barrier.

PAIN or not, Mohd Zulfahmi Khairuddin got a decent outcome, finishing 14th in yesterday's qualifying session of the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Sepang Circuit. Suffering from a swollen lower back, the 21-year-old Red Bull-KTM-Ajo rider was expected to struggle.
But a strong performance saw him within sight of the top 10 riders as he clocked two minutes 15.474s. Zulfahmi's teammate Luis Salom cracked the Malaysian circuit's lap record en route to pole position with a time of 2:13.867s. "Compared to yesterday, today was very good," said Zulfahmi, referring to his 20th position in Friday's combined free practice times, as the swelling on his back has also reduced.
"We only had an issue in the early part of qualifying when half the track was dry and the other half wet. So we decided to stay in the pits a little bit longer to wait for the track to dry a bit before we went out on slick tyres. I was able to do some constant lap times in the two minutes and 15 seconds region, so I'm confident about my pace. "I'm not too far from the top 10 laps times, so that is my target. Under these circumstances, to finish in the top 10 would be great for me." Zulfahmi continuously undergoes treatment to reduce the swelling on his back and while it has thus far worked, he admitted there was still a little pain hampering his performance yesterday. "At some corners, I was really struggling to control my bike. There is still pain, but it is much better compared to yesterday. The doctors and physios have been working really hard on me, so I wish to thank them for all the work that has gone into trying to ensure I can race this weekend." A repeat of his second place finish from his first ever pole position in his home race last year would be a tough ask, but Zulfahmi remained confident of a decent performance in front of his home crowd. "It will be a really hard 18 laps in the race, especially with the injury.
But I hope to remain in contention and I'm going to push myself hard all the way to the finish line."