PETRONAS Raceline Malaysiaâs Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah went through a disappointing run in the Argentina Grand Prix opening practice that saw him finish 24th on the Moto2 timesheets on Friday.
Hafizh who was hoping to build on the momentum he built in Austin once again suffered with handling issues in FP1 before a defected tyre prevented him from making significant improvements in FP2.
In the end, Hafizh was forced to settle in 24th with 1â45.137s, 1.898 seconds adrift Johann Zarco who posted a new lap record in 1â43.239s.
Second quickest was Sam Lowes with 1â43.306s followed by Mika Kallio third, 1â43.426s.
âI am really disappointed today knowing that I could do so much better. We started off well and was riding ninth mid way into FP1. But when I went out after making adjustments to the rear shock, the handling deteriorated drastically with the front end chattering at the turns.”
âAs for FP2 we had a defected tyre which had minimum grip when out on track. I had to wait until the bike get up again before I could engage the throttle, losing a lot of precious time. It was a very frustrating session for me and I hope these issues can be resolved tomorrow,â he added.
Meanwhile PETRONAS Raceline Malaysia manager, Barry Leong said, âHafizh went through a disastrous practice. Dunlop distributes the tyres randomly to all Moto2 teams and just so happen luck was not with us as we got a defected piece. Last year, we faced a similar issue on race day. Let’s hope we shall never have this problem again.â
Combined Moto2 Practice Results
1.Johann Zarco (FRA) 1â43.239s
2.Sam Lowes (GBR) 1â43.306s
3.Mika Kallio (FIN) 1â43.426s
4.Tito Rabat (SPA) 1â43.431s
5.Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA) 1â43.598s
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Selected
24.Hafizh Syahrin (MAS) 1â45.137s
