Malaysian, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah is off to a competitive start in the Italian Grand Prix as he registered fourth quickest in the Moto2 opening practice at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli yesterday.
Carrying the momentum of his eighth place finish in the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, the PETRONAS Raceline Malaysia posted his best lap of 1’55.065s under wet conditions around the 4.064 kilometre circuit, 1.022 seconds off Frenchman, Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham) who led the Moto2 timesheets with 1’54.043s.
Second and third fastest were Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team) and Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) with 1’54.303s and 1’54.854s respectively.
Although pleased to come in within top five, Hafizh insisted his work is far from over for the weekend and he aims to once again collect valuable points on Sunday and improve his position in the overall standings where he is placed 20th overall with 29 points.
“The wet conditions gave us a good start to the weekend but I was actually expecting the weather to be dry because it is predicted Sunday will take place under dry conditions. Nevertheless, I am content with our current pace but there is still room for improvement.”
“Hopefully FP2 will be dry and the engineers can find a good setup for the bike,” said Hafizh.
Moto2 FP1 Results
1.Johann Zarco (FRA) 1’54.043s
2.Julian Simon (SPA) 1’54.303s
3.Thomas Luthi (SWI) 1’54.854s
4.Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (MAS) 1’55.065s
5.Anthony West (AUS) 1’55.026s
