Armed with a 27-point advantage, championship leader Larry Stuart Blair will be taking it easy at the final round of the SIC-AAM Malaysian Motocross Championship 2009, which will draw to a close at Sepang Circuit tomorrow after six challenging rounds.

“It has been a very tough season and naturally, the overall championship is the only priority now … the strategy will be to take things cautiously and not to crash,” said the New Zealand rider, who would be crowned at the expert class overall winner for the first time tomorrow if he managed to sweep aside the challenge of Malaysian siblings – Gaban and Gabit.

“I don’t need to win the round to win the overall title. So, if everything goes crazy, I will just withdraw a bit and relax. But, if there’s an opportunity to win, I will, naturally, go for it,” added Larry, who won four of the six previous rounds.

Gaban, or Mohd Al-Amirul Asy-syahid Mohd Salleh and the 2005 overall win, won Round 5 in August. The other loss for Larry was at the opening round in April, which was won by Indonesian rider, Alexander, who had returned for the final round after missing the previous five rounds.

The riders along with competitors from the other novice, veteran, junior, mini bike and trailbike classes took their practice rounds today on a wet and muddy one-kilometer Sepang Motocross Track following heavy afternoon showers around Sepang.

Entering the final round which would offer three motos and a maximum of 75 points for grabs, Blair leads the championship with 411 points against Gaban’s total of 384 points. Seventeen-year old and rookie Gabit, or Mohd Habibullah Mohd Salleh is third with 350 points.

Defending champion, Frenchman Pierre Yves Catry dari Perancis, who is also the 2006 champion, is lagging further behind with 341 points in fourth place and is virtually out of contention from the championship battle.

“It looks like to be a wet and muddy race tomorrow. But, rain or shine, I will be going all out for the win. I will be riding my own race tomorrow and will not be influenced by tactics to be adopted by Larry. To me, it will be racing to win … just like all the previous rounds,” said Gaban, who rides for Boon Siew Honda Racing.

Entering its fourth year, the event organized by Sepang International Circuit (SIC) is the national championship for motocross and is sanctioned by Malaysia’s motorsports authority, AAM and supported by Motorsports Association of Malaysia.

The novice crown has virtually been won by 17-year old Hazlanshah Mohd Noor, who has garnered 391 points and enjoying a 61-point advantage over closest rival Mohd Faiz Embok Chenig, who has 330 mata. Mohd Khairi Zakaria is a distant third with 229 points.

Similarly in the battle of the trailbike machines, as 19-year old Ahmad Nasaie Najmi of Kuala Ketil, Kedah is a sure bet for the overall title after his dominating performance in winning all the previous five rounds and enjoying a healthy lead of 35 points over second-placed Sahrinnizam Abu Bakar.

Ten-time national champion M. Chandran looked set to add the veteran title to his impressive trophy cabinet as he goes into the final round tomorrow with a 12-point advantage of Kan Yin Heng.

Unlike the other rounds, the junior class for riders under 16 years old would be closely contested between siblings Muhamad Firdaus Ishak Muliawan and defending champion and younger brother Faizuddin Naim Ishak and their CBK Kawasaki Racing team-mate Muhammad Alif Jamal. All three are separated by just five points.

Riders from all categories would be competing in three motos tomorrow (Sunday, November 16) with the opening moto starting at 10am with the mini bike category.

KEJUARAAN MOTOCROSS MALAYSIA SIC-AAM 2008

Point Standing After 6 rounds
Tempat	Nama	Mata
Expert Class
1	Larry Stuart Blair (Kawasaki)	411
2	Mohd Al-Amirul Asy-Syahid Mohd Salleh (Honda)	384
3	Mohd Habibullah Mohd Salleh (Kawasaki)	350
4	Pierre-Yves Catry (Yamaha)	341
5	Mohd Fariq Bachok (Yamaha)	283
Novice Class
1	Hazlanshah Mohd Noor (Kawasaki)	391
2	Mohd Faiz Bachok (Honda)	330
3	Mohd Khairi Zakaria (Kawasaki)	229
4	Ahmad Nasaie Najmi (Honda)	225
5	Mohd Faizol Fuad Sallehan (Kawasaki)	218
Veteran Class
1	M. Chandran (Honda)	363
2	Kan Ying Heng (Yamaha)	351
3	Chris Sullivan (Honda)	315
4	J. Jegathesan (Kawasaki)	298
5	Peter Grinsted (KTM)	249
Trailbike Class
1	Ahmad Nasaie Najmi (Honda)	372
2	Sahrinnizam Abu Bakar (Honda)	337
3	Mohamad Nooriman Sapari (Kawasaki)	305
4	Muhammad Khaidir Sirat (Kawasaki)	285
5	Mohamad Firdaus Agos Mawardi (Kawasaki)	222
Junior Class
1	Muhammad Firdaus Ishak (Kawasaki)	350
2	Faizuddin Naim Ishak (Kawasaki)	349
3	Mohammad Alif Ishak (Kawasaki)	345
4	Mohamad Fadzli Embok Chenig (Honda)	299
5	Muhammad Akhmal Mohd Jais (Kawasaki)	207

For details, contact the Press Officer Azhar Ghazali at 019 383 7865.