The 2025 racing season has seen remarkable achievements from two young Malaysian riders, Hakim Danish and Qabil Irfan, both competing in prestigious international championships.

For Hakim Danish, this season’s performance has been more consistent and significantly stronger compared to previous years. After finishing 12th overall in 2023 and 6th in 2024, Danish is now on track to close the 2025 season in 3rd place overall in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (RBRC).

Danish also led the overall standings for five rounds this season, an impressive feat in such a highly competitive championship. Maintaining the lead brought its own challenges, but his performance proved his ability to compete at the highest level. His journey is far from over as the FIM JuniorGP continues, with its own set of targets in sight. Looking ahead to next season, SIC and ZK Racing are still reviewing various aspects before finalising their plans, but both remain committed to ensuring the best for Hakim Danish.

Meanwhile, Qabil Irfan stunned the field by securing the 2025 ESBK Talent overall championship title with one round still remaining. The España Superbike Championship (ESBK) Talent category grew increasingly competitive as Swiss rider Alessio Arnold emerged as a surprise contender after several race victories.

Despite the mounting pressure as rivals closed in, Qabil maintained consistent performances throughout the season. After Round 5, ZK Racing and VHC Racing took strategic steps, keeping Qabil in Spain for intensive training and working on technical improvements to the bike. These efforts paid off when Qabil dominated Race 1 with a significant margin, boosting the team’s confidence heading into Race 2. Ultimately, Qabil sealed the overall championship title early, establishing himself as one of the most promising young riders on the international stage.

The success of these two riders not only highlights the immense potential of Malaysia’s young talents in global motorsport but also serves as an inspiration to continue nurturing more world-class riders in the future.

Hakim Danish: “Today in Race 2 I did not finish (DNF). This is not the result I was hoping for to close the 2025 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup season. Overall, it was quite a challenging weekend, but I kept pushing and managed to show improvement in every practice session. I would like to thank all my sponsors, family, friends and supporters who never gave up on me.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin: “We have concluded this year’s Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (RBRC) with a remarkable achievement as Hakim Danish finished 3rd overall. This is not only Danish’s best result to date, but also Malaysia’s highest-ever achievement since joining this championship. In his first year, Danish finished 12th overall, then improved to 6th in 2024, and this year secured 3rd. Although we had a chance to fight for the championship, luck was not on our side. In Race 1, Danish was hit by another rider and forced off the track, finishing 10th, while in Race 2 he crashed at Turn 1 on a half-wet track.

Honestly, I am very proud of Danish’s performance. This result is the outcome of his hard work and determination. Racing in Europe against some of the world’s best riders is a huge challenge, and RBRC provides the best platform before stepping up to MotoGP. While the end of the season was tough, Danish showed strong consistency at the beginning of the year, and this will be our foundation to work on becoming more consistent throughout the full season in the future.

I would also like to thank everyone who continues to support the SIC Racing programme in developing young riders. I truly hope to see more Malaysian talents rising onto the international motorsport stage.”

Qabil Irfan: “The Round 6 ESBK races last Saturday and Sunday were truly a great weekend for me. To be honest, it was an exhausting week because from the very beginning I knew how important Round 6 was I needed to win both Race 1 and Race 2.

I knew that ZK Racing and the VHC team would not sit back; they would do everything possible to ensure I could secure those wins. My responsibility was simply to stay focused and give my very best commitment. From Thursday and Friday, we tried various new setups so the team could collect as much data as possible. Alhamdulillah, on Saturday in Race 1, it was a day I will never forget. I had great confidence in the bike, which in turn gave me the belief to push harder. In Race 2, I tried to repeat the same approach as in Race 1, but I decided not to take unnecessary risks as I could already see the gap was comfortable, so I just maintained the pace.

There is still one round remaining in November at Jerez. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to KBS, Sepang Circuit, Terengganu Inc, ZK Racing, and RCB for being my backbone. A special thanks also to Mak and Bad for their constant prayers, and to all my supporters for standing by me.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin: “At the beginning, we did not expect Qabil to win the ESBK Talent category this year as we had not set such a high target. However, after he won both races in Round 1, our expectations changed, and from then on we hoped he would give his very best in every round. Last week, Qabil was officially crowned the 2025 ESBK Talent Overall Champion, and this is truly a proud achievement.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who has supported Qabil, to those who continue to back our rider development programme, and especially to Qabil’s father for always being by his side in Spain. My hope is that next year we can take the next step, targeting participation in both the European Talent Cup and the Asia Talent Cup.”