Hafizh impresses at Phillip Island

Syahrin Abdullah made a positive start to the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix yesterday, lapping the Phillip Island circuit more than half a second faster than rival Franco Morbidelli.

The Monster Yamaha Tech3 MotoGP rookie clocked a best lap of one minute 30.956s for 12th in the opening practice (FP1) before posting an improved 1:30.179s in the second practice.

Both sessions were held in dry conditions.

Italian Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) — who leads the rookie standings with a four-point advantage over second-placed Hafizh — clocked 1:31.670s (18th) and 1:30.787s (17th) in FP1 and FP2.

Spaniard Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha) topped the opening session on 1:29.952s while Italian Andrea Iannone (Suzuki Ecstar) was fastest in FP2 on 1:29.131s.

Hafizh said he was surprised by his strong early performance but was a bit disappointed to miss out on direct entry to the Q2 qualifying group today which would have guaranteed him a top-10 position on the grid.

The Ampang-born missed out on a Q2 slot by just 0.046s.

“I felt really good, to be honest I didn’t expect to be so fast from the beginning in Phillip Island because this track has not been one of my favourites in the past,” said Hafizh.

“With the MotoGP bike it’s different (compared to Moto2) and I felt confident with this machine on this track.

“The bike works very well for the moment, but tomorrow we definitely have to work on my race pace.”

In Moto2, Finn Niki Tuuli (Petronas Sprinta Racing) ended the day 22nd in FP2 after clocking 1:35.153s while Khairul Idham Pawi’s (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) 1:35.283s was good for 25th.

Moto3 FP2 witnessed Petronas Sprinta Racing duo Ayumu Sasaki (1:37.798s) and Adam Norrodin (1:39.231s) enjoying contrasting fortunes as they placed eighth and 26th respectively.