SEPANG: The qualifying round did not go to plan for Syarifuddin Azman at the Petronas Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix today, but that has not stopped him from setting his sights on the podium in the race tomorrow.
The Moto3 wildcard rider placed a lowly 28th after clocking two minutes and 15.007 seconds in free practice three (FP3), which played out in mixed weather conditions at Sepang Circuit.
Syarifuddin, riding for VisionTrack Racing, then placed seventh in qualifying one (Q1) on 2:13.091s after the track had dried. He will start the race from 21st position on the grid.
Leopard Racing's Dennis Foggia took the pole position after topping Q2 on a blistering 2:11.411, which broke the all-time Moto3 Sepang lap record of 2:11.673 set by Tatsuki Suzuki in 2019.
Syarifuddin, who has secured a full-season seat in Moto3 next year, is hoping for a wet race tomorrow.
"FP3 was quite tough as I had some issues with the bike. The track was also wet in certain areas, but we took a risk and went out on slicks," said the 20-year-old.
"The bike's handling was not quite there in the corners. It was chattering, and there were also other issues. My goal (during FP3) was to qualify for Q2, unfortunately, it was not possible.
"We reverted to the same setup we used during FP1 for the qualifying session (Q1), and it felt better. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement.
"Although I said that a dry race would suit me better with our current bike settings, I think a wet race will now work just fine.
"I will have a chance to fight for a podium spot if it rains tomorrow."
Syarifuddin listed turns four, nine and 15 as the areas he will look to overtake during the race.
Meanwhile, wildcard riders Azroy Hakeem Anuar and Kasma Daniel Kasmayudin fared no better in Moto2 qualifying.
Azroy (2:08.738s) and Kasma (2:09.641s) were placed 14th and 15th in Q1 and will start the race from 28th and 29th on the grid.
Idemitsu Honda Team Asia's Ai Ogura will start from pole after topping Q2 on 2:06.405.