Qualifying for tomorrow’s Shell Advance Malaysian Grand Prix took place today at Sepang today under a scorching hot sun and with temperatures of 35°C (air) and 58° (track). The two Ducati Team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow were able to qualify respectively in fifth and eighth place and will start tomorrow’s race from rows 2 and 3.
Dovizioso had set fourth quickest time in both of today’s free practice sessions, while Crutchlow finished the first in sixth and the second in seventh. Both men had to deal with the suffocating heat and they worked hard with their teams to try and improve feeling with the bike on the Malaysian circuit, which is characterized by conditions of scarce grip.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 5th (2’00.703)
“I am happy with the work we have done this afternoon: we are closer to the front and our race pace is more constant. In qualifying I was unable to do a perfect lap because the front closed in on me at turn 6. It’s a pity because the new tyre can only be used at its best on the first lap: I did however manage to improve by a few thousandths of a second on my second run and this shows that without that problem, I could have obtained a better time on my first attempt. Row 2 is OK, and tomorrow I’ll try and make a good start. It’s going to be a difficult race, but I’m more confident than I was yesterday.”
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 8th (2’01.119)
“First and foremost I’m very disappointed with qualifying today, we had a problem with chatter in both runs. We think it was the harder tyre option at the front of the bike, and without this problem I believe I could have been easily on the second row of the grid today. It’s a pity because I felt quite comfortable and confident, but in two corners I lost over half-a-second to what I did in the morning. The guys have been working good, as always, we are looking to improve the bike for tomorrow and hopefully we can have a strong race here in Malaysia.”
