Hafizh primed for second podium finish
HAFIZH Syahrin Abdullah put himself in a strong position to challenge for a second podium finish in Moto2 this season after qualifying a respectable sixth at the Japan Motorcycle Grand Prix yesterday.
The wet conditions in the third practice (FP3) suited Hafizh perfectly and saw him topping the timesheets in the session at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit with a best lap of two minutes and 6.163 seconds.
Hafizh then secured a second row spot on the grid for tomorrow’s race with 1:54.362s effort in qualifying, which was good for sixth.
The Petronas Raceline rider had secured his first outright podium (third) at the San Marino GP in September.
Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s Khairul Idham Pawi will, however, start from the back of the grid after coming in 33rd on 2:00.099s.
In Moto3, Adam Norrodin secured 13th on the grid after clocking 2:10.538s in qualifying while SIC Racing Team teammate Ayumu Sasaki managed 24th (2:11.298s).
Adam, 19, who crashed in FP2 on Friday, suffered another crash in FP3 yesterday, and was not too pleased with his qualifying performance.
“This morning we made really good progress in FP3 and I was improving in nearly every lap in the final minutes but then on my last lap I was pushing so hard I crashed,” he said.
“I started (qualifying) really well and at one point I was fifth. We stayed in the top 10 throughout the first half of the session.
“In the end we finished 13th which is a disaster because we still have a chance to do well tomorrow.
“I am a little disappointed because I know I could have done even better but anyway the race is what I have to focus on.”
Adam, who is currently 19th in the overall Moto3 standings on 29 points, finished 15th at the Aragon GP last month. Fadhli Ishak