Round 9 at Batu Kawan – Small Circuit, Big Attitude, Zero Mercy

Batu Kawan Circuit | Penang | Malaysia

5°16'58.5"N 100°27'28.0"E

A Circuit Built for Close-Quarters Combat

Batu Kawan has this funny way of looking harmless from the outside.
You roll up to the venue thinking, “Alright, small track, should be chill.”
Then the first warm-up session kicks off and—boom—your senses get punched awake.

At just 1.264 km, the layout is basically a street fight with painted lines. Back-to-back corners, almost no straights to breathe on, and barely enough space to compose yourself before the next braking point arrives. The whole track feels like it was designed by someone who wanted to test your reflexes, your courage and your ability to survive stress.

The 2025 PETRONAS Malaysian Cub Prix Championship rolled into town for Round 9, and Batu Kawan gave us the full package: heat that cooked the tyres, wind that came and went like a prankster, and a crowd that treated every overtake like a national holiday.

If Cub Prix is Malaysia’s heartbeat, Batu Kawan is where it starts sprinting.

CP150 – Kasma Daniel Controls the Chaos

In the premier CP150 class, Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin looked like he’d been plugged into a power socket. Calm. Sharp. Dangerous.

His winning time of 14:20.373 doesn’t tell the whole story. Behind him:

Ahmad Afif Amran chased hard (+1.124s)
Azroy Hakeem Anuar held on for a gritty third

But what made Kasma’s ride stand out wasn’t domination — it was discipline.

Batu Kawan punishes riders who rush the corner. Kasma didn’t.
Batu Kawan exposes riders with sloppy exits. Kasma’s were poetry.
Batu Kawan rewards bravery with consequences. Kasma chose smart bravery.

From where I was standing at Turn 3, you could see him loading the front, flicking the bike, and firing it out like it was muscle memory. Meanwhile Afif was pushing so hard you could almost hear his tyres begging for mercy.

It was tight, it was tense, and it was exactly the kind of performance that keeps Kasma’s name in every conversation about Malaysia’s top underbone talents. The guy wasn’t riding the track — he was reading it.

CP125 – Arash “Tsunami” Kamarudin Stays Ice-Cold

If CP150 was a chess match played at 140 km/h, CP125 was two riders swinging hammers at each other.

Arash “Tsunami” Kamarudin took the win in 13:29.440, holding off:

Md Syamil Amsyar Md Iffende (+0.515s)
Md Farid Hakimi Farid Sezli in third

The gap?
Half a second.
The stress?
Through the roof.

From the paddock wall, you could feel Arash’s approach. He didn’t get drawn into the chaos. He stayed clean, stayed patient, and stayed cool. Batu Kawan is one of those tracks that rewards riders who understand where to attack and where to defend — and Arash nailed the equation.

Syamil threw everything at him. Farid Hakimi stayed close enough to ruin anyone’s afternoon. But Arash was ice. Every lap, every exit, every defensive line — calculated.

His crew didn’t celebrate wildly when he crossed the line.
They just exhaled.
That’s Batu Kawan.

Wira KBS – The Kids Go to War

The Wira KBS class (under-17 riders) is always the most chaotic part of the weekend, and Round 9 was a straight-up youth battleground.

Md Akif Abdullah continued his impressive form. Smooth when he needed to be, ruthless when the door cracked open. Behind him? Absolute carnage. These young riders attack every corner like they’ve got something to prove — because they do.

Tangles, wild saves, impossible overtakes — it’s everything brilliant about Malaysian youth racing in one messy, beautiful package.

If you want to see the future ARRC riders — maybe even future Moto2 contenders — you look here. No egos, no filters, just raw, blooming talent.

Atmosphere – Pure Malaysian Racing Culture

Batu Kawan is one of those venues that reminds you why motorsport belongs to the people, not the corporations.

Fans pressed right up to the fencing — inches from the action.
Kids waving flags almost bigger than themselves.
Families sitting on plastic stools eating nasi lemak while race bikes scream past.
Vendors selling ais krim Malaysia out of styrofoam coolers.
A guy trying to sell Milo ais louder than the PA system.
Mechanics wrenching under blue tents, shirts soaked, hands black with grease.

It’s noisy.
It’s chaotic.
It’s Malaysia at its absolute best.

I walked the paddock between races and got hit with that familiar wall of smells: two-stroke, fried food, sweat, rubber. Somehow, the combination is perfect.

A Track That Thinks Faster Than You Do

Batu Kawan doesn’t care about reputations.
It doesn’t care about your setup.
It doesn’t care if you’re the favourite.

It forces you into:

constant corner recalculation
disciplined throttle decisions
risk analysis on the fly

Turn 3? Sketchy at the best of times.
Final chicane? A thief of hopes and dreams.

One wrong apex and you lose three positions.
One moment of panic and you lose your race.

Watching Kasma glide through the chicane lap after lap was hypnotic — light, precise movements that looked easy from the outside but took every ounce of focus and muscle.

That’s why I love this track. It tells the truth.

Why CheekyMoto Loves Batu Kawan

There are circuits with prestige.
There are circuits with history.
And then there are circuits like Batu Kawan — the ones with soul.

This place buzzes.
It breathes motorsport.
It lets the fans be part of the story.

If you ever get the chance to come here, do it. Stand at the fence, feel the exhaust notes punch your chest, soak in the sweat, the smells, the chaos. You can’t bottle this atmosphere.

CheekyMoto was there, camera slung over my shoulder, sun trying to roast my neck, loving every second of it.

Scroll down for my full photo gallery.