KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Mattia Pasini had a superb start with Petronas Sprinta Racing and will start from the second row of the grid at the French Grand Prix.
The 33-year-old Italian rider, who went directly into Qualifying 2 (Q2), suffered a light crash at the end of qualifying but escaped unharmed to set the fourth fastest time in qualifying at Le Mans.
“The feeling was good, although I would say that going straight into Q2 today hurt us a little, because I think the riders coming in from Q1 had a bit more of an advantage. I think we did a good job, improving lap by lap.
“I feel bad about making a small mistake on the brakes and crashing. Even so, fourth on the grid is very good and I’m happy about that. We will see what the conditions are like for the race,” he said in a statement, today.
For the record, Pasini was selected to replace Khairul Idham Pawi after crashing in the qualifying session at the Spanish Grand Prix.
At Le Mans, the conditions were wet from the morning onward and he attempted to try out the bike in the wet to lead the timesheets at the start of the session, eventually placing 14th with a best time of one minute 46.622 seconds.
The afternoon Q2 session was also held amidst rain but Pasini was fast and clocked a time of 1:49.906s, putting him fourth on the grid for his opening race as a Petronas Sprinta Racing rider.
Meanwhile, in MotoGP, Petronas Sepang Racing Team (SRT) Franco Morbiedlli of Italy finished sixth in Q2 after clocking the best time of 1:41.681s while his teammate, Fabio Quartararo in tenth position with a time of 1:42.509s.
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