Hafizh Syahrin

Hafizh Syahrin made history in 2018, becoming the first Malaysian to race (and score points) in the premier MotoGP class.

Syahrin got the surprise chance after Jonas Folger withdrew from the competitive Monster Yamaha Tech3 ride following last year's fatigue issues.

A solid job under the circumstances saw Syahrin scores points in ten races, with a best of ninth place, leading to him being re-signed by Tech3 for its new KTM era in 2019.

But Syahrin struggled to adapt to the more aggressive RC16, scoring just nine points (compared to 46 on the Yamaha) and crucially being outpaced by rookie team-mate Miguel Oliveira.

With no MotoGP options, Syahrin elected to return to Moto2, where he had made his grand prix debut as a wild-card in 2011 and raced full-time from 2014-2017.

Hopes of adding to his three previous Moto2 podiums and potentially becoming Malaysia's first Moto2 race winner proved out of reach during a season each with Aspar (Kalex) and then RW Racing (NTS), when he was often outside of the points.

Syahrin then switched to the World Superbike championship with MIE Honda for 2022. His rookie season will see him alongside WorldSBK veteran Leandro Mercado as the Japanese-owned team expands from a one-rider team to two for the first time.