KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Malaysian racer Zulfahmi Khairuddin finished second behind Italian Alex Baldolini at the rain-delayed World Superbike Championships here in Sepang.

Having started in fifth place, he immediately jumped into third place and took the race lead after three laps, overtaking Turkish rider and championship leader Kenan Sofuoglu.

He kept the lead till the last three laps when he and the Italian traded places, till finally crossing the finish line 0.050 seconds behind Baldolini.

In the World Superbike category, Nicky Hayden won his first race. He beat out Davide Giugliano of Italy and Jonathan Rae of Great Britian.

Nicky, also known as The Kentucky Kid, was able to familiarise himself with the wet conditions and never looked back, winning the race comfortably.