Jorge Navarro takes front row spot at Sepang, Maria Herrera 25th

Today, amidst temperatures of 33°C and 58% humidity, the starting grid for the penultimate round of the 2015 Moto3 season was decided in qualifying. Jorge Navarro set the second fastest time in the session.

Navarro set his fastest time after overcoming Miguel Oliveira on his final lap, but just moments later Niccolo Antonelli snatched pole position by just 0.047s. Heavy traffic was again the worst enemy of the fastest riders in the qualifying session, making it very difficult to have a clear track. Navarro chose to forget about the group that followed him on the last lap and went after a definitive time, which eventually allowed him to place second.

Maria Herrera continued her learning process at the Malaysian track. This morning, in the third free practice session, the Repsol rider finished twenty-eighth and was just over 2 seconds behind the fastest time –set by Danny Kent. In the qualifying session she was twenty-fifth, around 1.5 seconds off Antonelli.

Tomorrow sees the penultimate race of the season for the Moto3 riders, which will take place at 12.00pm local time –5am CET.

Jorge Navarro
“The qualifying session was difficult because it was pretty hot and the feeling was not the same at the start as in the morning. I think we did a great job, because we tested different setups for the bike to improve in these conditions and at the end of day we lowered our time from the morning, so I’m very happy. On the final laps, with the traffic on track, I decided to push myself without thinking that they could beat my time, and I think I made a great lap. We are ready for tomorrow.”

Maria Herrera
“It was a difficult qualifying session. I did not feel very comfortable with the soft tyre and I did what I could. In the middle of the session I pushed a bit and lowered my time, but there were so many riders in the group that none of us could ride as fast as we wanted. This circuit is a little tough for me, but I’m improving with every session and that is positive. We are not far from the points –I think we’re half a second off– so tomorrow we will fight to be in that group like we were in Australia.”

Source: Repsol Media