Team PETRONAS Sprinta Racing rider Mohd Syahnas Shahidan delivered his team 's first major title after finishing first in today's final round of the PETRONAS Sprinta AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship, while Suhadi Ali Rahmat had a hand in his teammate's success by finishing second in their "do-or die" battle in Batu Kawan today.

Coming into today's final leg with 7 points behind, Syahnas needed an outright win while his teammate had to come in second to finally lay claim to the Novice class title. With a little prayer from all team members before the start of the session, Syahnas and Suhadi delivered just that.

Suhadi who went out first during today's fight for pole saw the former national motocross champion in the predictable top spot. Suhadi who started well had privateer Md Azhar Ahmad overshadowing him throughout his 10-lap qualifying session. Despite the threat, Suhadi managed to remain calm and ensured the second starting position with a best of 52.050 seconds.

Teammate Mohd Syahnas Shahidan also capped a perfect qualifying session for the team when the ex-WIRA champion rounded off the top spot in his Novice C heats session. He clocked a best of 51.686 seconds to claim pole position on the starting grid. Syahnas' main challenger Noor Azizi Aziz also made it to the finals with a best time of 51.984 seconds, slotting himself into 3rd on the starting grid.

With the Novice finals starting grid looking incredibly fierce as expected, all eyes were focused squarely on the top three championship contenders: Syahnas in pole, Suhadi in 2nd and Noor Azizi in 3rd. As the red lights went off, Syahnas wasted no time to bank in first into the 90-degree left-hander, followed closely by his teammate.

As the 12-lap race progressed, Syahnas began distancing himself from his teammate in second, while Noor Azizi was left struggling in fifth, a position he later conceded to land sixth. Syahnas and Suhadi's domination continued throughout the 12-lap race with the two PSR youngsters eventually taking the final chequered flag.

Dedicating his Novice class win to the strong support he had been getting all season long, Syahnas later said, "I need to thank my crew for getting me a perfect machine to win this championship. It's been a long season and I'm just very happy to be able to bring back the silverware that matters most: the Novice class champion. Thank you to everybody who had made this possible."

Suhadi's second place finish in today's race leapfrogged him to sit comfortably in third overall in the overall Novice standings. He said, "I'm glad it was my teammate at the top of the podium and nobody else. This win is so important for us and I'm just glad I had a and in it. My congratulations to Syahnas."

Meanwhile, in Expert category, both Suhadi and Syahnas failed to finish their races after misfortunes struck the PSR duo. An accident in the opening lap for Syahnas and machine failure on Suhadi's part ended their Expert campaign in Batu Kawan. The retirement was quite unfortunate, as Syahnas had performed brilliantly in the earlier heat sessions finishing a superb 3rd place amongst the seasoned campaigners.

Team Manager Saiful Amri Abdullah said, "We have now achieved what we set out to achieve at the beginning of the season. It is simply gratifying now that the battle is finally over, and we won! My heartfelt thanks to the two young riders, Syahnas and Suhadi as well as the whole crew who rallied behind us in this trying first season for the team. I am truly blessed to have such as wonderful crew."

The following are the final Novice class standings for the 2003 PETRONAS Sprinta AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship: