AMIRUL Hafiq Azmi placed himself in a strong position to bag his first point of the season in Moto3 after qualifying as the top Malaysian at the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix yesterday.
The SIC-Ajo rider clocked two minutes 14.413 seconds to place 16th, his best grid position for the season. Aussie Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) clinched pole on 2:12.450s 0.459s ahead of Great Britain’s John McPhee (SaxoPrint-RTG). Jakub Kornfeil (Calvo Team) of Czech Republic, who managed 2:13.016s, placed third.
Amirul Hafiq said he is hoping to finally break his duck in front of a home crowd.
“I struggled with my confidence a little in the morning but some tweaks to the suspension helped a lot and I managed to get the time I wanted on my second last lap,” said the 18-year-old.
“I am really happy with my performance and although I want to give the top guys a run for their money my main goal is just to finish in the points this time.
“There have been a few times when I was in a position to get some points but then experienced problems with the bike or I crashed. Hopefully this is where I can get it done.”
Wildcard Ramdan Rosli of Petronas AHM was the second fastest Malaysian, notching 2:15.455s to place 20th.
Zulfahmi Khairuddin crashed early in qualifying but recovered to qualify one place behind Ramdan on 2:15.455s. The Ongetta-AirAsia rider, however, remains optimistic of a good race today.
“There was a lot of traffic on the first lap of qualifying, I reached the first corner, lost grip on the front tire and fell,” said Zulfahmi.
“After the mechanics repaired my bike I only had nine minutes and could only manage three laps. Unfortunately on my last lap, which I felt was my fastest, I had some problems with my front brakes, or else I could be higher up.
“I thought I would be around 30 but to place 22nd is not bad. I am confident with the setup of the bike at the moment and the width of the Sepang Track I can compete with the front group tomorrow (today). My target is to finish in the top-10.”
Wildcard Hafiza Rofa, the only other Malaysian in Moto3, will start from 31st position today after he clocked 2:16.104s on his KTM machine. By Fadhli Ishak