SEPANG: Moto3 rookie Syarifuddin Azman continues to struggle with his form at the ongoing Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia and a lack of chemistry with his crew is not helping his cause.
The MT Helmets-MSI rider, who had issues with braking yesterday, admitted that he has yet to find the optimum settings for his KTM bike at the Sepang Circuit.
Syarifuddin, better known by his nickname Damok, clocked two minutes and 14.199 seconds to place 27th in the third practice session (FP3) this morning.
He later placed 14th in the first qualifying group (Q1) on 2:13.499s and will start from last on the grid (28th) tomorrow.
Leopard Racing's Jaume Masia took pole on 2:10.846s.
"They (crew) did make a number of changes to the bike for FP3 (third practice) but I was not able to adapt well during the session," said Syarifuddin today.
"For qualifying, they made big changes to the bike and it felt better but there is still room for improvement.
"I am not too happy with my results so far this week, it just hasn't gone right for me.
"It is disappointing as I had hoped to put in a good performance in front of my home fans.
"I am hoping the team can help make improvements to the bike before tomorrow's race. If they are able to do so, I will try my best to create an upset (in race)."
Syarifuddin, who has yet to secure a seat for next season, added that it has not been easy for him to get the changes he wants done to his bike.
"Language isn't an issue but I think they (mechanics and crew chief) are having a little difficulty understanding my character," he added.
"There may be some confusion, I explain things one way but they think the opposite. The same thing happens again and again".
Meanwhile in Moto2, wilcard duo Azroy Hakeem Anuar and Helmi Azman and will start from 29th (2:08.183s) and 31st (2:10.112s) respectively in the race tomorrow.
The duo are both riding for Petronas MIE Racing RW.