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STUDENT, recording artist and professional motorcycle racer in the Malaysia Superbike Championship. That's 23-year-old Afique Danial Izzad Bogers who is living life in the fast lane, literally, has hit a few speed bumps.
Currently, the pandemic has slowed his chosen career with regards to training, racing and sponsorships (the lack of it). But the biggest speed bump that Danial hit came very early in his racing career.
Danial's love affair with sports began with football which he quit due to "certain issues" when he was in his teens.
Then after watching MotoGP with his brother, Danial was inspired to take up motorcycle racing when he "finally had enough money to purchase and practice" and was bent on seizing the opportunity to realise his dream of racing.
“It was a race where Valentino Rossi crashed in the wet, got back up and caught up to finish 5th. It was a beautiful display of grit and determination, and the movement of bikes looked like poetry to me,” he remembered and a moment that motivated him into becoming one.
Recently, Danial posted a TikTok captioned, “nearly lost my life for my passion and career, I just want my life back,” which leads us to his facing the biggest speed bump in his racing career.
TikTok link: https://vt.tiktok.com/ZGJBWBTVV/
It was his debut race in the 600cc category in the MSF Championship at Sepang in 2018. All went well in his time trials before things took an ugly turn, as Danial explains.
“The morning went well with decent times on a less equipped bike, but halfway through the qualifying session, my brakes failed at the fastest part of the track...”.
Danial crashed into the tyre wall and only woke up in a hospital a few days later.
He sustained a collapsed lung, bruising on the back-right side of his brain and an injured lower back.
He was put into an induced coma by doctors as they fought for his life for three days, before he was transferred out of the ICU.
“Till this day, it is something that plays in my head, in addition to the pandemic that has paused my career.
“Having put my loved ones through all that worry and pain, I do not want my career to amount to nothing after having made a comeback following the crash.”
That ordeal could’ve been the end of the road for Danial - he was close to calling it quits - especially after seeing the state of his family.
“My mum wanted me to call it quits. But after weeks of sleepless nights, I realised that if I did, it would be giving up,
“I thought perhaps the crash shouldn’t be the end, but rather more a lesson not be too eager, to play smart and always to prepare my bike well in advance if I’m doing it myself.”
He decided to take a leaf from Valentino Rossi’s book with regards to determination and did not throw in the towel. Instead, Danial returned to racing after getting his parents blessings.
“They said that they knew I was happy doing what I did and wouldn’t restrict me.”
Despite not having fully recovered, he returned to racing a little over two months after the crash when he took part in a small race to prove to himself that he still had it in him.
Finally, Danial made his professional comeback in June 2019 in the premier category after signing with the GGarage SBK Racing Team, which is part of the GGS Group, and got a double third placing even after the first bike failed.
“We managed to get a double third place in my debut for the premier category which was beyond our expectations."
He shared with The Vibes that he attributes his successes through everything to his parents who stood right by him.
“My dad never missed any of my football games when I was a kid, and never any of my races.
“My mum has always been my backbone and made me who I am, mentally, today.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has paused Danial's racing career. Currently he's freelancing for his team on their social media and marketing, but he plans to continue racing till he no longer can and dreams of creating his own team upon retirement.
Danial may have faced near death, but that's not going to stop him from continuing his passion - racing. - The Vibes, July 19, 2021
