The Perak state government has approved RM100,000 as incentive to Malaysia’s sensational Moto3 rider Khairul Idham Pawi in recognition of his historic achievement to become the first Malaysian to win a Moto3 race in the MotoGP World Championship in Argentina on April 3.

Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir said the incentive would be given to inspire him further in his quest to achieve victories on the global stage of the world motorcycle championship and become an idol for other young riders in the country.

Zambry said the state government had initially approved an allocation of RM60,000 after the rider had appealed for financial assistance from the state government for his expenses before his participation in Argentina.

“He had appealed for the allocation through Abdullah Fauzi (Kampung Gajah state assemblyperson) and the application was submitted to me personally by Shahrul Zaman Yahya (Youth, Sports and Human Resource Committee chairperson).

“We later approved RM60,000 but by then he had already left to Argentina and the money was channeled to the Kampung Gajah Community Service Centre. After his success, we added another RM40,000 as incentive,” he told reporters after chairing a state exco meeting in Ipoh today.

Khairul, riding for Honda Team Asia, crossed the line in a time of 41 minutes 35.452 seconds at the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit ahead of Spaniard Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and South African Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who crossed the line in second and third places respectively.

“I hope people will not claim that the Perak state government had only come forward to provide assistance after Khairul has won a race,” he said.

- Bernama