Simon Vilhemsen Takes Pole Position in Moto 1
The 2017 FIM Asia SuperMoto Championship – Malaysia completed its Qualifying and SuperChrono round with Denmark’s Simon Vilhelmsen taking pole position for Moto 1 tomorrow, followed by chart leader, United Kingdom’s Lewis Cornish and Malaysia’s Khairi Zakaria.
SuperChrono, a race between the top six qualifiers from the Qualifying round, witnessed a battle between top international riders that braved through the 800-metre tight track that consists of a double off-road section. With the circuit cleared from other riders, Simon, Lewis, Khairi, Trakarn, Habibullah and Naoto sped through the track without any obstacle.
Simon Vilhelmsen, fourth-ranking at the S1GP World Championship, attained the fastest lap time of 47.469 said that he was pleased with his performance today compared to the previous round in Singapore where he faced a persistent brake malfunction during the race.
“The weather here is different compared to the races in Europe. Having Lewis trailing closely behind was intense, but that motivated me to perform better. The Asian riders were also very professional, and the level of this championship is definitely on par with any international SuperMoto races.”
On the other hand, Lewis expressed his grief and disappointment to start the Moto 1 on second grid. He was merely 0.0021 seconds behind the Danish and acknowledged that his experience at the world championship has helped him to catapult his position at the final round.
“My ultimate focus will be on the overall championship title tomorrow. However, I will put on a good fight with Simon and hope to steal the pole position, which will be a strong factor in determining my chances of winning.”
Malaysia’s Khairi Zakaria had a slow start during the SuperChrono session but managed to increase his pace to secure the third grid position. The 2012 and 2013 champion also admitted that he had some difficulty riding due to swollen thighs caused by a crash during the Free Practice session yesterday.
“I am pleased with the result today, especially in this condition. Hopefully, the sky will be shady tomorrow as the weather was scorching this afternoon. I think this condition has affected many of us [riders], but I think that things will improve after four sessions [of races] today.”
“I know that all eyes are on me to steal the Asian Class title from Trakarn, and I will do my best just to relive my championship title once again.”
Simon Vilhelmsen will take pole position at Moto 1, followed by Lewis Cornish, Khairi Zakaria, Trakarn Thangthong, Muhd Habibullah and Naoto Takayama.
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