MOHD Zulfahmi Khairuddin (pic) is hoping KTM engineers find a solution to his bike set-up woes before the French Motorcycle Grand Prix at Le Mans on May 15-17.
Though the Red Bull-KTM-Ajo rider has managed to battle his way up to sixth and two seventh place finishes in the opening three rounds of the Moto3 World Championship, he is far from satisfied, particularly with his qualifying form.
"This year's bike just doesn't suit my riding style, so I was struggling a bit. But KTM are working hard to make some improvements before we get to France," said Zulfahmi, 21, who is currently fifth in the championship standings.
All three races thus far have seen Zulfahmi qualifying 11th and 12th, needing to battle his way through the field to register his sixth place in Qatar and seventh in the United States and Jerez (Spanish Grand Prix) last Sunday.
"My qualifying has not been too bad so far, but it hasn't been the best. In the race the bike has been okay, but we have others who are still faster than us," said Zulfahmi.
"We have identified which areas need to be improved and some parts on the bike this year which aren't yet working properly, which are being addressed by KTM.
"I want to be attacking for a podium finish, so I'm really hoping we'll be able to do so in France."
Zulfahmi finished seventh overall in last year's Moto3 championship and has been touted as a title challenger this year.
Though his race form has shown some promise, he has struggled in free practice and more importantly qualifying up until now.
On another note, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah has been confirmed as a wild card in the Moto2 class of the French Motorcycle Grand Prix.
The 17-year-old, who is in his second season competing in the Spanish CEV Moto2 Championship, has been confirmed as an entry by his team Petronas Raceline Malaysia.
Hafizh stunned the world when he rode to an impressive fourth place finish, after taking the lead coming from 24th on the grid, riding as a wild card in the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix Moto2 class last year.
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