PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Moto2 rider Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah lived up to his nickname – The Fish – as he clocked the fourth fastest time in the rain-soaked first free practice session at the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy.
The Petronas Raceline Malaysia rider stopped the clock at 1:55.065 – just 1.022 seconds slower than fastest man Johann Zarco of France on Friday.
AirAsia Caterham’s Zarco clocked the fastest lap of 1:54.043, while Julian Simon of Spain (Italtrans Racing) was second fastest in 1:54.303. Thomas Luthi of Switzerland (Interwetten Paddock) was third quickest in 1:54.854.
“I was hoping for dry weather to get a good bike set-up for Sunday’s race. I’m comfortable in the wet and I have some requests for adjustments to be made to the bike ... but they are nothing major, though,” said Hafizh.
Compatriot Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman of Idemitsu Honda Team Asia stopped the clock at 1:56.284 to be placed 13th.
In Moto3, Amirul Hafiq Azmi of SIC Ajo was 16th fastest in 2:02.641. Zulfahmi Khairuddin of Ongetta AirAsia could only post the 26th quickest time after suffering a crash. He clocked 2:04.886.
Spaniard Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia) was fastest in 1:58.697.
