Pawi wants progress in fast corners

Khairul Idham Pawi made a modest return to the Moto3 class with a 26th place finish in the Qatar season opener.

After making history for Malaysia with two victories during his rookie 2016 campaign, Honda Team Asia took Pawi straight up to Moto2.

But it was too soon. Pawi scored just eleven points over the next two years before switching to his home Petronas team for 2019, only to miss most of last season due to a serious finger injury.

Placed alongside race winner John McPhee for his junior class comeback this year, Pawi is still adapting to the 250cc Honda but was at least pleased to be back on track after such a long absence.

“We had some ups and downs during testing and also in the race in Qatar, but we expected that," Pawi said. "It’s been a long time since my last race and I have jumped back on the Moto3 bike so I have had to adapt to that.

"It was a great feeling to be back racing again though; I had definitely been missing it a lot.”

Pawi added: “I was making improvements each time I rode the bike and I was adapting my style to the needs of the Honda bike more and more every time I rode it.

"I know I need to improve in the fast corners, as the Moto3 bike handles very differently to the Moto2 bike in those conditions.

“I think the main differences are that the Moto3 bike is lighter than the Moto2 bike and the engines are different. The riding style needs to change between the two because of this, but in Moto3 I have so much confidence in hard braking zones.

"Both categories are also so competitive and many of the riders are extremely quick and able to challenge for the title.”

One of those title contenders is team-mate McPhee, who finished a close runner-up to Albert Arenas (Aspar) in Qatar.

“I have a very good relationship with John; he is a great team-mate to have," Pawi said. "I have a lot of respect for him and he has helped me a lot, both in testing and at the race. I know that with him we will be able to improve and I will go even faster when racing resumes.”

Pawi was speaking from Malaysia, where he has been in lockdown since arriving back home from the Qatar round.

“As we have to stay at home I have been training indoors," he said. "I have my bike set up so I can ride that indoors and I also have some weights at home so I have been able to work on my strength training too.

"I really miss training outside though as I don’t think I have ever gone a day without going outside to train before this!”

Pawi added: "I hope the world will be a better place when we’re out of lockdown and we can all enjoy that.”