Despite suffering in pain, Muhammad Zulfahmi Khairuddin is optimistic of finishing among the top 10 riders in the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at Sepang Circuit on Sunday.

In today's qualifying session, Malaysia's golden boy Zulfahmi of Red Bull KTM Ajo team clocked 2:15.474s and will start 14th on the grid in the Moto3 category.

Championship leader Spaniard Luis Salom, also of Red Bull KTM Ajo team will start the race first on the gridv after finishing the race in 2:13.867s.

Second was Alexis Masbou of Ongetta-Rivacold team who clocked 2:13.985s while Niccolo Antonelli of GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 who clocked 2:14.006s will start third on the grid.

"I did better than yesterday where I finished in 20th place. I'm still struggling with pain especially when negotiating my machine through corners.

"I hope the pain will ease tomorrow so that I can complete the 18 laps," he told reporters here today.

Zulfahmi suffered swelling around the waist as a result of an accident while racing at Aragon Circuit last week.

He also had fracture in the right wrist while his left wrist was also injured and had to undergo surgery.

However, today's qualifying session was not in favour of two wild card riders, Amirul Hafiq Azmi and Husni Aizat Abdul Malik of Touchline-SIC-AJO team who will start third and second from the back.

Amirul Hafiq clocked 2:17.757s to finish in 32nd place while Husni Aizat finished the race in 2:17.814s for 33rd place.

"I'm really disappointed with today's result. I did not ride well and the wet track at some corners made it difficult to accelerate," he added.

His team mate Husni Aizat said he was distressed by the condition of the track which did not suit his machine.