Team Suzuki Press Office – October 29.
Aleix Espargaró – 7th
Maverick Viñales – 8th
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales will start tomorrow’s Shell Malaysian MotoGP™ at Sepang from the third row following today’s final qualifying session.
Viñales, who set the fastest lap in the morning’s ‘dry’ FP3 and Espargaró – seventh in FP3 – spent most of the final ‘wet’ Q2 in strong second-row positions, but were pushed back in the final seconds of the session.
Espargaró’s progress allowed him to perform strongly in the morning, with consistent pace and effectiveness on the single lap time attack. He then struggled with the feeling in the afternoon, when the track had more water on the tarmac and lack of traction. Although he managed to stay close to the top, he had to step back to a third row starting position, even though his pace gives him strong hopes for the race tomorrow.