Sepang Comeback: Just Short of the Points in Malaysia

Friday, October 30th

Team Snipers’ Malaysian GP weekend gets off to a positive start, with encouraging signs already emerging from the first Free Practice session at the Sepang circuit. Both riders immediately manage to make their presence felt, showing good speed despite a few slightly damp patches still remaining on the track following overnight showers.
Conditions nevertheless allow the riders to take to the track on slick tyres. Jesus Rios completes a 13-lap session, setting his best time on his penultimate lap and securing 12th position. An encouraging start for the Spanish rider, who once again demonstrates his ability to adapt to a circuit he is tackling for the first time.
Kiattisak Singhapong completes 12 laps, continuing his development and showing increasingly strong feeling with the bike. The Thai rider manages to secure a good position inside the Top 10, making an excellent start to the Malaysian weekend.

The Practice session brings the first day of track action to a close, once again in dry conditions, but with temperatures rising significantly to reach 33°C. Both riders set their best times during the opening flying laps of the session, before finding it increasingly difficult to improve their benchmarks as tyre degradation increased, further affected by the higher track temperatures.
Rios and Singhapong nevertheless manage to complete a series of consistent laps, confirming good race pace and gathering positive feedback ahead of the rest of the weekend. However, their times during the time attack mean that both riders will have to go through the first qualifying session on Saturday. The gaps to the leading positions remain relatively small, leaving room for improvement ahead of the decisive day.

Saturday, October 31st

Saturday morning brings further encouraging signs for Team Snipers. FP2 takes place once again in dry conditions, this time with better track conditions than those experienced on Friday afternoon, allowing the riders to work more consistently and progressively improve their lap times.
Kiattisak Singhapong is one of the standout performers of the session, completing several competitive laps interrupted by a pit stop. The Thai rider sets his fastest time on the very first flying lap of his second run, managing to finish FP2 inside the Top 10.
Jesus Rios follows a similar strategy, setting his best time during the opening laps of his second run after completing a series of particularly fast laps. The Spanish rider finishes the session in 11th position, immediately behind his teammate.
A further step forward for both riders, who manage to improve their respective times by almost one second compared to Friday morning, confirming the progress made at the Sepang circuit ahead of qualifying.

As already seen on Friday, Saturday afternoon once again brings more challenging track conditions, making the battle for a place in Q2 particularly tight.
Jesus Rios immediately sets a good benchmark for his time attack, moving close to the top four positions, the only ones that guarantee direct access to the second qualifying session. However, after changing tyres, the traffic on track and the size of the Malaysian circuit make it difficult to find enough space for another fast attempt. The Spanish rider is therefore unable to improve his time, missing out on Q2 by less than half a second.
Kiattisak Singhapong also fights until the very last moment for a chance to progress through Q1. His first flying lap would already have been enough to secure a qualifying position, but contact with a slower rider at the final corner compromises his attempt. Forced to complete another lap before returning to the pits for a tyre change, the Thai rider still manages to improve his benchmark by almost one second.
For his second run, Singhapong returns to the track on his own, ready to make the most of his final opportunity. The Thai rider puts together a particularly fast lap, but in his attempt to push to the limit, he slightly exceeds track limits, resulting in his lap time being cancelled. A decisive incident that prevents him from securing a place in Q2 by just two tenths of a second.

Sunday, November 1st

Even on Sunday, the rain stays away from the Sepang circuit, allowing the Grand Prix to take place on a dry track, as had been the case throughout the rest of the weekend.
Jesus Rios’ race gets off to a difficult start. After completing an overtake in the opening moments following the start, the Spanish rider loses control of his bike at Turn 2 and crashes, fortunately without suffering any consequences. Rios nevertheless manages to get back on his bike quickly and begins a challenging recovery.
Kiattisak Singhapong makes a more effective start, finding a good pace from the opening laps and gaining several positions in the early stages of the race.

In the middle phase of the Grand Prix, Rios maintains a fairly consistent pace and, despite the difficulties caused by his crash, manages to take advantage of mistakes from his rivals to climb back up the standings. Singhapong, meanwhile, continues to show good speed, engaging in constant battles with several riders and gradually trying to close in on the points positions.

In the closing stages, Rios maintains his pace and continues to capitalise on opportunities created by his rivals, crossing the finish line in 21st position. Despite the crash, the result allows him to gain three places compared to his starting position.
Singhapong fights all the way to the final corner and even manages to reach 14th position in the closing laps, becoming a genuine contender in the battle for points. The Thai rider eventually finishes in 17th place, just outside the points, but gains four positions compared to the start.

The Malaysian weekend therefore ends with another sign of progress for Singhapong, who is increasingly involved in battles with the riders ahead of him and continues to strengthen his feeling with the bike and the Team Snipers, working towards increasingly better results.

Comments

The words of Jesus Rios:
“I want to apologise to the team because a mistake at Turn 2 caused me to crash and go off track. I also want to thank everyone who worked on repairing the bike and making it possible for me to get back out on track. I’m disappointed because we had worked well throughout the weekend. It’s true that I had a fever this week and wasn’t feeling 100% until the race, but we won’t let this get us down and are already preparing for next weekend.”

Kiattisak Singhapong is satisfied with the work done despite the difficult conditions:
“The race wasn’t easy because I knew I could have gained even more positions. I’m disappointed not to have made it into the points, but I’m happy to have recovered several places, as the hot conditions were really challenging. We’re gradually building confidence and working towards getting closer to the front.”