Tech3 Racing Team rider Marcel Schrotter concluded today’s qualifying session at the Sepang International Circuit in 17th position as he confidently looks on to tomorrow’s 19 lap race. The young German started the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix with a run to 22nd in the opening shakedown on Friday. From there, he embarked on undertaking the necessary setup work on his Mistral 610 in order to make it suit the characteristics of the 5.5 kilometre track. His initial best lap of 2’09.581 was cut down to 2’08.659 by the close of FP3, which left the 22 year old optimistic of lowering his time further and clinching a strong qualifying position. When the all important shootout commenced, Schrotter got straight to work as he began lapping the world famous circuit at speed. The young German made consistently improved before setting a personal best of 2’08.195 on his sixth lap. However, with 20 minutes left to run, rain began to fall which interrupting Schrotter’s efforts of attempting to score a top grid position and left him in 17th, but he still remains optimistic of a points scoring finish tomorrow. Schrotter will now aim to climb through the intensely competitive field and then close the final flyaway race with a solid result before heading back to Europe for the final round at Valencia in two weeks.
Meanwhile, young Spaniard Xavi Vierge will contest the penultimate round of the 2015 season from 25th on the grid after attacking the Sepang International circuit at full speed today. The rookie started the weekend with an opening display that left him in 26th with a lap time of 2’11.023 as he fought on track at a circuit that he has previously never ridden on. He persevered and continued his thorough effort aboard the Mistral 610 as he made continuous steps forward. Vierge closed the final practice session in 25th position, but he had cut his lap time to 2’09.613, marking an improvement of almost a second and a half. This left him fully charged and primed for a solid qualifying campaign. When the 45 minute practice kicked off, the 18 year lunged forward and after some meticulous work with the Tech3 Racing Team, Vierge, posted a time of 2’09.066 on his 12th lap out of 14 as he built up his speed. Yet, despite this time being his quickest of the weekend, his attempts to lower it further were thwarted by the rain and so the young Spaniard will kick off his Malaysian Moto2 battle from 25th on the grid.
Marcel Schrotter – Position : 17th – Time : 2’08.195 – Laps : 8
““It has been another challenging weekend for us, but the qualifying went ok and I am confident for the fight tomorrow. In terms of the performance, it took us a fair amount of time to get up to speed. Yet, we did our best and the end result is satisfying although we need to be faster. Having said that, compared to where we were this morning or even yesterday, we made a big step up. In FP3, I rode on a new tyre and followed some of the other riders on track, but this left me with just one unused tyre for qualifying. As a result, we started on an old one and ran quite a few laps on it. I felt good, but there was a lot of traffic, so I pitted and put the new tyre in as the weather was not looking good and no one knew when the rain would come. When I returned to the track, most of the other riders were in their garages, so I did my lap time alone which is positive. I am happy that I could do this time on my own, yet if there were a few more laps or some slipstream, which is very important here due to the long straights, then I am certain that we could have easily been inside the top fifteen. Anyway, I think that I will be able to fight for the points tomorrow and as always I will do my very best. I also want to say thanks to the Tech3 Racing Team because it is almost the end of our partnership together which makes it emotional for me, but I am determined to get a good result for them in the final flyaway race.“
Xavi Vierge – Position : 25th – Time : 2’09.066 – Laps : 14
“I am quite pleased with my qualifying performance today even if the starting position for tomorrow is not too positive, plus I’m a bit disappointed that the rain stopped the session because I’m certain I could have improved my lap time further. Yesterday was a difficult day and I finished free practice 2 with not such a confident feeling with the bike. Yet, today I threw my leg over the Mistral and I felt completely different straight away. So the team and I worked together and we improved the bike even more and my riding style too. The negative point of today was that it started raining as soon as we had put a new tyre on the bike and I could only run on it for one lap before we had to come in. Anyway, my qualifying lap was my fastest of the weekend but I know that I could have been even quicker if the rain had stayed away. Nevertheless, I am happy and looking forward to tomorrow’s race. It’s going to be long as it’s 19 laps in length, but I will do my best to end it positively as a way to thank the team for the great work they have done this weekend.”