The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider has secured his third pole position of the season, something he hadn’t managed since the Dutch Grand Prix. His team-mate Marco Morelli will start twelfth after getting through Q1
Máximo Quiles is the new pole-sitter in Malaysia. The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider was the fastest on Saturday, clinching the Moto3 pole position in the final laps. The Spaniard will once again lead the starting grid for the third time this season and eight races since his last pole, at the Dutch Grand Prix. Quiles will be joined by Brian Uriarte in second place and local rider Hakim Danish in third. Marco Morelli has improved his form and progressed through Q1 to climb to twelfth on the starting grid.
After making the final adjustments in this morning’s free practice session, the decisive moment arrived during the timed practice. The Moto3 World Champion had to give it his all to improve his times by almost a second on his previous best. Quiles rode alone and broke the 2:11 barrier for the first time to set the time to beat at 2:10.396. With just one final lap to go, all that remained was to wait and see if any other rider could beat his best time. Uriarte came closest, although he fell short by 84 thousandths of a second. The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider thus secured his third pole position of the season after a long wait since his last one, at Assen, last June.
His team-mate Marco Morelli has taken a step forward in Malaysia and is feeling more and more comfortable on the bike. The Argentine had to contend with a fiercely contested Q1 right up to the very last moments. With the time already up, it looked as though he would fall just a few thousandths short of qualifying, but Morelli had one last chance to make it through to Q2. After the rest of the riders failed to cross the finish line before time ran out, the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider took advantage of a virtually empty track to set his fastest lap of the session and secure fourth place. Once in Q2, Morelli set his fastest time of the weekend, 2:11.201, and will start from twelfth on the grid tomorrow.
1st Máximo Quiles 2:10.396: “It’s great to get pole position once in a while, although the main focus is on Sundays. I’ve done well again today, even though I’ve got a bit of a cold. Every Saturday I try to give it my all, but sometimes it’s out of my hands – there are riders who take advantage of slipstreams, and so on. I’ve been riding on my own again and have tried to set the best possible time. I knew they might take pole away from me, but in the end they didn’t. The heat is quite a limiting factor and the cold is an added challenge, so this weekend I’m trying to stay calm to build up my strength for the race. What’s more, the track is very abrasive, so we’ll suffer a lot during the race. It’ll be interesting to see how we all manage it; I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
12th Marco Morelli 2:11.201 (+0.805): “Today went better than yesterday, both in terms of the result and how it felt. It was a tricky day because in the morning I was a bit off the pace and struggled to set a fast lap. In Q1 I tried to push on my own and set a time by myself. It wasn’t easy and it was touch-and-go, but I managed to get through. The feeling has been improving in Q2 as well, and that’s the most important thing. We’ll keep working this afternoon to see if we can take another step forward and get a bit more out of my potential.”
