HAFIZH IN A STRONG POSITION
Malaysian hopes to finish in the points after good display in qualifying
MOTOGP rookie Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah placed himself in a strong position to notch a second pointsfinish in a row after a positive performance in qualifying at the Japan Motorcycle Grand Prix yesterday.
The Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider clocked a best lap of one minute and 45.765 seconds in dry conditions at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit to secure 16th on the grid.
His rival Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), who currently leads the rookie standings with a five-point advantage over Hafizh (second), will start right next to the Malaysian on the sixth row as his 1:45.969s was good for 17th.
Hafizh, who finished in the points in Buriram recently, said he is expecting today’s race to be a close affair.
“We are back in the rhythm and I feel really good together with the team.
“We have strong pace and I believe that tomorrow will be a good day for us. We need to make a clever choice on the tires.
“(All the riders) from seventh to 15th are really close (in timing), so I think if we can do a good start tomorrow and stay within that group, we can score points.
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso kept his fading title hopes alive by snatching pole in a frantic late dash.
The Italian, who realistically needs to emulate his 2017 victory in Japan to delay Marc Marquez’s coronation, clocked a fastest lap of one minute, 44.590 seconds, with his Spanish rival sixth quickest.
Marquez, Dovizioso or Jorge Lorenzo have topped qualifying at the last nine races.
That streak was almost brought to a halt as Jack Miller roared to the top of the timesheets late on, but after the Australian subsequently skidded off, Dovizioso and Yamaha’s Johann Zarco produced some sudden-death fireworks to demote him to third.
“We did what we expected to do,” said Dovizioso. “We were able to improve this afternoon and make a really good lap time.
“But Marc has a really good pace for the race and he’s well placed too, so it will be a hard battle.”
Marquez, who leads Dovizioso by 77 points with a maximum 100 points available from the final four races this season, can capture his third straight world crown if he finishes ahead of the Italian.
The runaway championship leader limbered up for qualifying with a quickest lap in the final free practice, despite a late spill.
But although he starts from sixth, Marquez will fancy his chances of wrapping up a thirdstraight title — his fifth overall — in motorcycling’s premier class, which would equal Australian legend Mick Doohan.
“If I want to claim the title, I’ll have to go for the victory,” said Marquez, who will be chasing an eighth win of the year today.
The 25-year-old would trail only Italians Rossi, who won the last of his seven championships in 2009, and Giacomo Agostini, whose record eighth came in 1975.