Malaysian Moto2 rider, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman admits there is room for improvement as he wrapped up the World Moto2 Championship opening practice 23rd overall at the Grand Prix of Qatar on Thursday.
The Honda Team Asia was hoping to be in the top-20 fastest Moto2 riders at the Losail Circuit but struggled to find a good pace despite taking a different approach with his riding style.
Azlan posted his best lap in 2â02.954s in Free Practice 1 and went half a second quicker in the second session, dropping his best lap time to 2â02.595s before rain interrupted the practice in the final 20-minutes.
Meanwhile Azlanâs teammate, Takaaki Nakagami clocked fifth quickest on the Moto2 timesheets with 2â01.123s while Great Britainâs Sam Lowes of Speed Up Racing led the way with 1â59.717s.
âI was riding with the top-15 in the early stages of the practice because I could trail my rivals. But once they pitted in and I was left alone of track, I found it very challenging to maintain the same pace. Clearly there is still a lot of room for improvement,â said Azlan who has good memories winning the 2013 Asia Road Racing SuperSports 600cc title at the Losail Circuit.
âBut in all honesty, I had a good feeling with the bike and we managed to make some progress at a number of turns which I struggled with last year. But right now I think the suspensions may need a bit more tweaking before we can drop our lap time any further.â
âHopefully tomorrow will be a better outing for us and I will do my best to get good results here,â added Azlan.
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Combined Moto2 Free Practice Results
1.Sam Lowes (GBR) 1â59.717s
2.Johann Zarco (FRA) 2â00.339s
3.Tito Rabat (SPA) 2â00.368s
4.Axel Pons (SPA) 2â01.043s
5.Takaaki Nakagami (JPN) 2â01.123s
