Espargaro back on front row, Vazquez 5th

Pol Espargaró clocked the fourth fastest laptime in the qualifying for the 125cc race at the Malaysian Grand Prix which will allow him to start the race from the first row on the grid. Considering his race pace he will look to fight for his 10th podium of the season.
On the other side of the box Efrén Vázquez has put the brutal accident from Motegi behind him and just six days later he’s back up to speed with an excellent fifth position.
Both Tuenti Derbi riders are confident ahead of the race which is expected to be again incredibly hot and with high humidity, starting at 1PM local time.

4 POL ESPARGARÓ, 2.14.105
“I am satisified, because me rhythm is very fast and I think when I ride with a group and can still improve my laptime by half a second. I have a good feeling ahead of the race and I’m calm and relaxed, because it seems that we finally found a good setup and I’ve been very competitive with the race tyres, despite running into slower riders in some corners of the track. This time we’ll race in the afternoon and certainly the heat and the humidity will make the race extremely hard. In this circuit it’s far from easy to escape and looking at the laptimes I believe that we’ll be quite a big group at the front.”

5. EFRÉN VÁZQUEZ, 2.14.445
“We improved our laptime by more than a second and moved up to fifth position, so after the physical problems and the crash this morning I have to be very satisfied with the work we’ve done. I think I’m able to run with the front group, which I believe will be pretty big, and if I can help out Pol I’ll do that. The has improved a lot in this official training and only in the end it was sliding a bit at the rear wheel, so in the race still we can do it better. Physically I am better every day and this fifth position is a good way to forget the awful crash of last Sunday in Motegi.”

Source: Tuenti Derbi Racing