In only his third full season running in the Malaysian Cub Prix Championship, Mohd Syahnas Shahidan has already proven to be the future Malaysian champion by being in contention for his second major title, the Novice class champion.

Approaching the final two rounds in this hotly contested grassroot motorcycle championship, Syahnas has been a sterling example of sheer determination and the will to fight till the end. Armed with a bevy of trained mechanics and a dedicated Team Trainer, Syahnas powered to a 2nd place finish in Seremban, first in Kangar and another 2nd in Pasir Gudang.

Mechanical problems robbed him of a potential podium in Taiping and he was forced to sit out the Melaka race after the hand injury he picked up in Indonesia. Despite almost being relegated a non-title contender, the 22-year old bounced back to yet another victory in Round 6 in Sepang, leapfrogging him back to second overall and reliving his chances of claiming the overall Novice honors.

“I have to make it for the sake of the team and PETRONAS. We have pushed ourselves very hard this season and the time has come for me to deliver the silverware. 7 points is really not that huge and I’m confident of delivering the final package, but then it all depends on the machine and a whole lot of ‘racing luck’. After our success in Sepang, I feel more confident to spearhead the team’s challenge in Kuantan this weekend,” said Syahnas.

Meanwhile, Suhadi Ali Rahmat is also gunning to usher his teammate during his walk on Victory Lane. Currently fourth in the Novice title chase with 66 points overall, Suhadi needs to be on the podium badly if he wishes to see his name alongside Syahnas’ as Novice’ lead finishers.

“I know it’s tough but I have to give my all to continue the fight. Looking on the bright side of things, we have all the reasons to be winning again with the mechanical problems sorted out and we as a team working brilliantly together to achieve one goal – and that is to win the best result in the overall Novice,” said the ever-positive Suhadi.

The following are the Novice class standings at the beginning of round 7 in Kuantan: