McPhee and Sasaki raring to race at Motegi2019-10-20 15:21PETRONAS Sprinta Racing Moto3 riders John McPhee and Ayumu Sasaki are raring to get going in tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Japan after qualifying in 11th and 17th respectively in today’s wet session at the Twin Ring Motegi. McPhee went directly into the Q2 session with only two laps of wet experience at Motegi under his belt after a small fall in this morning’s FP3 session, but was able to quickly get up to speed with a 2min 10.397secs lap to finish 1.104secs off pole position. Third fastest in combined practice times in yesterday’s dry conditions, today’s result means that he’ll line up on the fourth row of the grid for the 20-lap race. Sasaki found good form this morning in the rain to end FP3 in 18th, but was unable to convert it into a stronger qualifying position after a small technical issue in Q2. Finishing the session in P17, 2.102secs from pole position, penalties for other riders means that he will start his home race from the sixth row of the grid in 16th. Moto3 action concludes tomorrow at the Twin Ring Motegi with the 20-lap Grand Prix of Japan starting at 1200 local time (1100 Malaysian time). Show more images Result John McPhee 11th (2'10.397) Result Ayumu Sasaki 17th (2'11.395) “P11 is OK and I can fight from there in tomorrow’s race even though I was expecting a little more when I saw the conditions. A small crash this morning in FP3 meant that I went into qualifying with only two laps of experience in the rain, and it was difficult to find my rhythm in only 15 minutes. I was able to find a strong pace in a short time, and in the circumstances, it was the best we could do. Now that it’s behind us and we have that extra experience, I feel ready to fight if it rains again tomorrow and we know from yesterday we can be fast in the dry. There’s a couple of small things to improve that more time in FP3 would have helped with, but the extra data from qualifying means I can be quick in all conditions.” “We’ve improved a lot in the wet which is a big positive, but in qualifying I had some issues that meant that I couldn’t deliver on my full potential. P17 isn’t the end of the world and the forecast for tomorrow is for good weather, so we’ll focus now on the race and can hopefully find our form again. My target in the race is to be on the podium, but from 16th it won’t be easy - that’s a lot of riders to pass! I was able to get into the fight for the win from the back of the grid in Thailand though, so nothing is impossible.” Moto3 Qualifying Results - Grand Prix of Japan POS. RIDER NUM TEAM TIME 1 Niccolo Antonelli 23 SIC58 Squadra Corse 2'09.293 2 Alonso Lopez 21 Estrella Galicia 0,0 +0.086 3 Tatsuki Suzuki 24 SIC58 Squadra Corse +0.333 Source: SIC Racing Team Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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