19 October 2022 – Sepang International Circuit – Malaysia

This weekend, the penultimate race of the 2022 World Championship will take place at the modern Sepang International Circuit. The Moto3 category always gives us a lot of emotions and this Championship was no exception. With Ayumu we have achieved two victories, in addition to 6 podiums. Moreover, two races from the end our Japanese driver is fighting for the third position in the world ranking. John also managed in this second half of the championship to achieve prestigious results, since in the last races he has always got points at the finish line.

In the last race Ayumu lived a weekend as a protagonist, in fact he was first on Friday, Saturday got the pole, with the absolute record of the track and in the race he missed the podium just for a few tenths, finishing fourth. Moreover, in the race he was the second fastest on track, after his teammate. John got the fastest lap of the race, a few thousandths from the track record. Throughout the race our British driver was in the first group of pursuers, crossing the line in sixth position. John is sixteenth in the standings, but on his championship, the absences in the first grands prix due to his injury, weigh a lot.

As for the Sepang International Circuit, it is a very special circuit, which puts a strain on riders and bikes. In fact, the high temperatures, combined with very high degrees of humidity and two long straights, where the small Moto3 travel full gas, are a rather demanding test bench. The track is 5543m long. Its main straight is 920m long and the track has 5 left and 10 right corners.

Below the statements of the protagonists of this weekend on SIC.

AYUMU SASAKI : “I am very excited to be in Malesia. It has been a very good weekend in Australia, still we missed the podium, so I can’t wait to race in Malesia. I like the track a lot, so this is very positive. I have lots of malesian fans, so I can’t wait for the weekend to begin to try to do my best.”

JOHN MCPHEE : “Malaysia is somewhere I’ve spent a lot of time in the past and I’m very excited to get back there to race in front of the Malaysian fans, for the first time in three years. I enjoy the track and will work hard as always to achieve my target.”

MAX BIAGGI – TEAM OWNER : “In the last race we got points with both drivers, managing to be protagonists since Friday. We couldn’t get on the podium, we had a chance to do so, but the change of pace caught Ayumu unprepared. That’s why we have to keep working, just to avoid a repeat of what we saw last weekend here in Malaysia. Ayumu is fighting for the podium of the world ranking and regarding John I hope that in these last two races he can get the result, which on several occasions has slipped out of hand, a result that he largely deserves.”

Statistics

In the last year on this circuit, 2019, L. Dalla Porta won the Moto3 race, followed by S. Garcia and J. Masia. The fastest lap of the race was obtained by M. Ramirez, with a time of 2’12.845 and an average of 150.2 Km/h. 2’11.758 is the time with which always M. Ramirez started from pole, with an average on the lap equal to 151.4 Km/h.

Ayumu in the four years in which he competed on this circuit, has obtained as best result the twelfth place in 2017. A fifth place, achieved in 2017, is John’s best result on the Sepang International Circuit.

T. Suzuki in 2019, with a time of 2’11.673 and an average of 151.5 km/h, obtained the All Time Lap Record. The Best Race Lap belongs since 2017 to A. Norrodin, who got the time of 2’12.775, at the average of 150.2 km/h. J. Martin won the Best Pole in 2018, with a time of 2’11.731 and an average of 151.4 km/h. 232.7 km/h is the Top Speed, obtained by K. Toba in 2019.

Schedule – Local Time (GMT +8)

Here are the times to follow the Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max Racing weekend.

Thursday 20 October
17:00 – Press Conference

Friday 21 October
09:00 – 09:40 – FP1 Moto3
13:15 – 13:55 – FP2 Moto3

Saturday 22 October
09:00 – 09:40 – FP3 Moto3
12:35 – 12:50 – Q1 Moto3
13:00 – 13:15 – Q2 Moto3

Sunday 23 October
10:00 – 10:10 – WUP Moto3
12:00 – RACE Moto3