Zaqhwan Zaidi will make his full-time debut in the World Superbike Championship (WSBK) in the 2025 season.
Zaqhwan, who previously competed in the Asian Motorcycle Championship (ARRC) and the World Motorcycle Championship in the Moto2 class in 2015, said he had no knowledge of the European circuit and that the issue needed to be addressed immediately.
“I have no knowledge of the European circuit or the machinery, so I need to work harder to understand everything as soon as possible.
“I would like to thank everyone who supported me and everyone who helped make this opportunity a success,” said Zaqhwan, who was entrusted to represent the Petronas MIE Racing team for the 2025 season in the premier class of WorldSBK.
Zaqhwan, who will be riding a Honda CBR1000RR-R, will be partnered with Great Britain’s Tarran Mackenzie (son of legendary rider Niall Mackenzie) who last season finished the campaign with seven points to be in 23rd place out of 28 riders.
The new WSBK season will see 12 races with the opening race taking place at the Phillip Island Circuit, Australia from 21 to 23 February.
The next round moves to the Algarve Circuit in Portugal from 28 to 30 March with the team scheduled to travel to Portimao earlier this month for pre-season training.
Meanwhile, team owner Midori Moriwaki is excited about the line-up for this season which also features another national rider competing in the WorldSSP class, Syarifuddin Azman, who is also a rider who has competed in the World Motorcycle Championship in the Moto3 class.
“Each rider brings their own experience and with this list of riders, we continue to develop our talent program.
“We are confident that we can achieve good results as we step into this new stage and are ready to face new challenges,” she said.
