KUALA LUMPUR: Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah showed a marked improvement over his qualifying performance in Argentina as he secured 16th on the grid at the Grand Prix of the Americas yesterday.
The MotoGP rookie clocked a best lap of two minutes and 5.873 seconds in qualifying one (Q1) but admitted he could have been faster at the Circuit of the Americas had he executed his strategy better.
He was the second fastest rookie in qualifying after Japan's Takaaki Nakagami.
The Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider had earlier in the day clocked 2:06.586s in free practice four (FP4).
"I felt really good in Q1 and had a good rhythm. But I was quite disappointed in the end because I made a mistake in my strategy to take reference of the riders in front, trying to catch them," said Hafizh.
"In the last lap, I didn’t see the chequered flag. Otherwise I think I could have been better.”
“Now we’re looking forward to tomorrow and will try to have a good setup for the race.”
By comparison, Hafizh had qualified 23rd in Argentina earlier this month but managed to finish a respectable ninth, his first top 10 in MotoGP.
Teammate Johann Zarco struggled on the opening day but bounced back with an impressive 2:04.210s for fourth but was promoted to third following a three-place grid penalty handed to Marc Marquez for an incident with poleman Maverick Vinales (2:04.064s).