The final pole position of the Moto3 season was decided this Saturday at the Comunitat Valenciana Circuit. Hafiq Azmi clocked the 24th fastest time in the qualifying session, lapping at 1:40.875 in the final moments to put him on the eighth row of the grid for tomorrow’s race.
This final free practice session of the year turned out to be a satisfactory one for the SIC-Ajo Team rider. Hafiq Azmi completed the training session with not only a fast and consistent pace, but also marked his fastest time of the weekend with a fast lap at 1:40.571.
This was over a half a second quicker than his best time from yesterday, placing him in 22nd position at the end of the FP3.
The qualifying session was a little more complicated for Hafiq Azmi, however.
“I think the qualifying session was not too bad. In the afternoon, the wind was stronger than in the morning and that really interfered with riding. Plus, the settings we had didn’t work with so much wind very well, so I went in the box and was able to improve later. The truth is that I have a good feeling with the bike and the track for tomorrow, the team did a great job this weekend. The grid position we have is not the best for the start, but we have a chance to fight for points if we make a good start. We’ll try to push hard”, Hafiq Azmi.
The Malaysian rider wasn’t able to match the pace he had earlier due to strong wind conditions, and could not improve on his previous best lap. His best time was set shortly before the session close, marking the lap at 1:40.875, a lap that puts the rider on the eighth row of the starting grid tomorrow.
The last race of the season will commence at 11am. Hafiq Azmi hopes to have a repeat of his race in Malaysia, where he staged a good comeback that placed him in the top 15, achieving his first points of the season.
Results – Qualifying practice
1. Niccolo Antonelli (KTM) 1:39.183
2. Jack Miller (KTM) 1:39.251 +0.068
3. Alex Marquez (Honda) 1:39.556 +0.373
4. Isaac Viñales (KTM) 1:39.637 +0.454
5. Alex Rins (Honda) 1:39.716 +0.533
24. Hafiq Azmi (SIC-Ajo Team) 1:40.875 +1.692
