Great start to Japan GP for Hafizh Syahrin

Hafizh finished ninth in the third practice session on Friday after clocking his fastest lap at one minute 51.724 in as early as the fourth round.

Recently Hafizh, from Petronas Talent Development Programme, finished seventh in Round 14 of the Moto2 World Championship at the Grand Premio Movistar De Aragonon on Sept 29.

Following numerous tyre-related issues this season, Petronas Raceline Malaysia team are leaving no stones unturned by leveraging on the practice and qualifying rounds to test and find the best tyre combination for the bike.

"I was specifically assigned to test a tyre for the entire session today to evaluate its durability for the race distance. I am pretty confident with this tyre but there will still be others that I need to run," said Hafizh in a statement, here.

Meanwhile team manager, Barry Leong said that tyre selection was crucial to the success of a race.

"It is getting a little complicated with inconsistent weather here in Motegi. While Hafizh is clocking more competitive lap times, the final decision depends on what the weather brings in the Qualifying today and the Race on Sunday," he said.