Malaysian Moto3 rider Hakim Danish produced a strong fightback to finish ninth in the Austrian Grand Prix, securing seven valuable points at the Red Bull Ring, Spielberg.

The result saw the AEON Credit-MT Helmets-MSi rider move up one place to seventh in the overall Moto3 World Championship standings, with 101 points.

Starting the race from 15th on the grid, Hakim Danish made a positive start as he quickly gained positions during the opening laps.

According to official race data, the 19-year-old completed the opening lap in 14th position before moving up to 12th on Lap 2, 11th on Lap 3 and breaking into the top nine on Lap 4.

However, Hakim Danish’s pace was slightly affected midway through the race after making several mistakes while pushing hard to gain further positions. This caused him to drop back to 14th place by Lap 15.

Hakim Danish refused to give up and regained his rhythm in the closing stages of the race. He fought his way back to 12th on Lap 17 and 11th on Lap 19 before crossing the finish line in ninth position.

ZK Racing sees the result as another positive step for Hakim Danish in his 2026 Moto3 World Championship campaign, particularly after the young Malaysian once again demonstrated his fighting spirit to recover strongly in the closing stages of the race.

The Austrian Grand Prix was won by championship leader Maximo Quiles of CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team in a time of 33 minutes 24.323 seconds, followed by Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in second with 33:26.657, while his team-mate Alvaro Carpe completed the podium in third with 33:31.717.

The Moto3 World Championship will now head into the Asian leg of the season, beginning with the Japanese Grand Prix at Mobility Resort Motegi from 2 to 4 October, followed by the Indonesian Grand Prix, Australian Grand Prix and, finally, the Malaysian Grand Prix.

ZK Racing will now turn its focus towards preparations for the Asian rounds, with Hakim Danish aiming to continue his strong challenge throughout the remainder of the 2026 season.

Hakim Danish:

“For today’s race, I managed to finish in ninth place after starting from 15th on the grid. I made a good start and tried to push the bike to its maximum, which allowed me to gain several positions in the early stages of the race.

However, midway through the race, I struggled a little as I was pushing too hard and made a few mistakes, which caused me to lose some positions and drop back down the field.

Towards the end of the race, I worked hard to fight back and pushed to overtake several riders ahead of me. My feeling with the bike also improved during the closing stages. I would like to thank the team for all their hard work throughout the weekend.

I’m really looking forward to the next race in Asia, especially in Japan, and I’m determined to achieve an even stronger result. Thank you to everyone for your continued support.”

Zulfahmi Khairuddin:

“It has certainly been a very challenging week for Danish. In today’s race, there was one lap where he made a small mistake while trying to gain a better position.

I believe there are still several areas that Danish needs to refine, particularly in terms of his riding technique. The team has not set overly high expectations for him. However, after experiencing a win and standing on the podium before, his own expectations of himself have naturally increased.

Therefore, the most important thing at this stage is to manage those expectations as he continues to go through his rookie season. The benchmark is currently very high, especially with Brian Uriarte consistently fighting for podiums in almost every race.

I hope Danish can make some adjustments to his riding style, allowing him to ride with more composure and consistently fight at the front. This will be important as we prepare fully for the Malaysian Grand Prix.”