Azlan Shah Kamaruzamanâs hopes of securing a good start position went up in smoke when the Honda Team Asia rider crashed in the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas Moto2 Qualifying on Saturday.
Azlan had shown a lot of improvement from the opening practice on Friday lost control of his Kalex and crashed at Turn 4 with 12 minutes left on the clock, finishing in 24th. He will start Sundayâs race from eighth row based on his best lap time of 2â11.954s.
Earlier today, Azlan was 19th quickest in the third and final Moto2 practice with 2â11.877s.
Xavier Simeon took pole position in 2â09.888s and lining alongside the Belgium rider was Sam Lowes and Moto2 defending Champion, Tito Rabat who posted their quickest lap at 2â09.942s and 2â10.077s.
Meanwhile Azlanâs teammate, Takaaki Nakagami is set to take off from second row with Spaniards, Julian Simon and Alex Rins.
âIt has been a difficult day. I found a good pace in FP3 but somehow during the qualifying nothing seems to work. The front suspension was off and I also struggled with chattering issues. It was physically demanding and I lost control of the bike and crashed,â said Azlan.
âLuckily I did not injure myself. I will pull myself together and try to challenge for points in the race tomorrow,â he added.
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Moto2 Qualifying Results
1.Xavier Simeon (BEL) 2â09.888s
2.Sam Lowes (GBR) 2â09.942s
3.Tito Rabat (SPA) 2â10.077s
4.Johann Zarco (FRA) 2â10.102s
5.Franco Morbidelli (ITA) 2â10.135s
Selected
24.Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (MAS) 2â11.954s
