KUALA LUMPUR: MotoGP rookie Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah proved he is back to his best after securing a season's best 14th in qualifying at the French Motorcycle Grand Prix today.
The Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider clocked a best lap of one minute and 32.397 seconds to place fourth in the first qualifying group (Q1) at the Le Mans circuit which placed him 14th overall.
Hafizh's previous best performance in qualifying this season was 15th at the season opening round in Qatar. His performance today also saw him emerging as the fastest qualifier among the five rookies competing in the premier class this season.
As expected, teammate Johann Zarco, competing at his home circuit, was in stunning form and secured pole position on 1:31.185s. Marc Marquez (1:31.293s) and Danillo Petrucci (1:31.381s) completed the front row.
Hafizh said he was happy to deliver a strong performance in what is the home race for Zarco as well as the French Tech3 team.
"We did a very good job on day two (today). In FP3 we improved and further improved in FP4, I feel I have more confidence on the brakes.
"I want to say thank you very much to my team because they always do a fantastic job and try to pass me their experience - this is very helpful.
"I can do low one minute and 32 second (lap) and I was very close to (qualifying for) Q2. Anyway, it’s my best qualifying (this season) and we will try to keep the consistency in tomorrow’s race.
"I want to avoid making any mistakes and bring home as many points as possible for my crew in their home race."
Hafizh earlier today clocked 1:33.050s for 13th in FP4.
He had endured a nightmarish outing at the Grand Prix of the Americas late last month where he suffered a huge crash in FP4 and later crashed out of the race.
He also struggled at Jerez a fortnight ago due to injuries he picked up in a cycling accident in the run up to the race.