Monster Yamaha Tech3 team rider Bradley Smith will launch from the rear of the third row on the grid for the 20 lap challenge at the Sepang International Circuit tomorrow. The British rider began the day by undertaking 19 laps in this morning's free practice 3 session as he relentlessly continued his work with the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team in order to confidently set himself up for the all-important qualifying practice 2. He concluded the session in 8th with a time of 2’01.426, which was only half a second from his target of 5th position. When the 15 minute QP2 dash began, the British rider lunged immediately in the tropical heat in Malaysia and ran at full pace before concluding the session with a top lap of 2’01.263. His performance today will see him rocket from 9th position on the grid as he fully intends to follow up his debut podium from the previous round in Australia, with another top result at the 5543 metre circuit in Malaysia to strengthen his aim of clinching 6th in the championship standings.

Meanwhile, Pol Espargaro suffered a heavy fall in the closing minutes of the morning practice which resulted in him fracturing the head of the second metatarsal in his left foot. Therefore, the young Spanish rider decided to sit out today's free practice 4 as well as the qualifying 2 session which he still would have qualified for, due to scoring 10th position during FP3. The high side occurred in the first corner while Espargaro was intending to post a fast lap to establish his appearance in qualifying 2. However, a small piece of glass damaged the oil radiator and formed a small hole which caused a very fine leak of oil which was invisible to the rider. The 23 year old still hopes to contest in tomorrow's 20 lap battle in Malaysia and the final decision will be made after his physical conditions have been examined before the warm up. In case of Espargaro choosing to participate in the race, he will have to start from 12th on the grid as he was counted as the last of the top twelve riders in QP2.

Bradley Smith - Position : 9th Time : 2'01.263

"Overall, I am pleased with the work that we were able to undertake today as I believe that we extracted the most that we could from the bike. We successfully managed to overcome some of the issues which I experienced yesterday and now we will analyse the data in order to establish where I can make further improvements. It appears as though sector three is a key area which I need to focus on in order to have a strong performance. I feel confident for tomorrow, but we must remain realistic with our expectations in the fight against our rivals in the championship. It will be vital to have a good start plus I need to be consistent for the entire 20 laps with the race being a long one and the humidity making it even more challenging. However, I feel ready and am quite excited for the demanding battle where I aim to score some more valuable championship points."

Pol Espargaro - Position : 12th Time : 2'01.885

"It was a tough day and I am feeling sore after the heavy fall, but we must move on and I still hope to be able to compete in tomorrow’s race. I saw Dovizioso and Redding pointing to let me know something wasn’t right on the rear, but I couldn’t see anything wrong with the bike as the oil leak was so small. Therefore I continued riding normally as the bike felt the same and there was no reduction in power on the straight, but then I hit the brakes and fell at the first corner as oil had slipped onto the rear tyre. Fortunately, the consequences could have been worse but I still have a broken foot and the middle finger of my right hand is in a lot of pain also. My crew chief explained what happened to me and I still find it quite unbelievable. It was a very strange day all in all. I crashed at the beginning of the session, yet it was just a small fall and nothing serious. I managed to improve gradually from there and was making some good steps forward as we solved a few issues which I wasn’t able to amend yesterday due to the rain but then I fell again. If I can race, I hope to be in a position to try and use the warm up to make further adjustments to the bike, but the most difficult aspect to deal with will be changing the gears. We have to forget about today now. I have never ridden in this condition, but we will see how I recover overnight and will then make a decision about the race tomorrow."

.