Fadhli Ishak
MALAYSIAN teams in Moto2 and Moto3 enjoyed contrasting fortunes in damp conditions in the first free practice (FP1) sessions of the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix yesterday.
In Moto2, Tetsuta Nagashima, of Malaysian-backed ONEXOX TKKR SAG, topped FP1 in 2:06.300s and was second fastest in FP2 (2:06.197s), just behind Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jorge Martin (2:05.968s).
Nagashima’s teammate, Remy Gardner, was 13th in both FP1 (2:07.448s) and FP2 (2:06.829s).
Petronas Sprinta Racing’s Adam Norrodin, riding in place of the injured Khairul Idham Pawi, was 28th in FP1 (2:09.107s) and 30th in FP2 (2:09.326s).
“The track was half wet and half dry in FP1, thus making it quite difficult, especially with the low (track) temperature,” said Adam. “I expected to do better in dry condition in FP2, but struggled instead.”
Meanwhile, Petronas Sprinta Racing duo Ayumu Sasaki and John McPhee crashed in the opening Moto3 session.
Ayumu, however, recovered to be fourth fastest in FP2 (2:12.777s) while Le Mans winner McPhee was 24th (2:13.950s).
Mugen Race’s Andrea Migno (2:18.921s) and Honda Team Asia’s Kaito Toba (2:12.466s) topped FP1 and FP2 respectively.