 1 Saturday 20 October 2012 Next morning and it's qualifying day and a dumb day - I left the GP tickets back at the hotel in KL! What to do? I buy three one day passes for the turn 1 grandstand and that's where we spend the day. |
 2 Saturday 20 October 2012 When we take our seats, Moto3 Free Practice is just finishing. Local Malaysian rider Fahmi Khairuddin (63) gets a lot of support. That's his picture at the entrance to the Sepang International raceway. |
 3 Saturday 20 October 2012 The straight is 1 km long with the main grandstand on the right and the garages on the left. Fahmi Khairuddin approaches turn 1 at 222 kmh. His best lap time is 2'15, about 15 seconds slower than the MotoGP bikes. |
 4 Saturday 20 October 2012 It's overcast as MotoGP free practice FP3 begins. Jorge Lorenzo approaches turn 1. His best top speed during this session was 324 kmh with a best lap time of 2'01.344 |
 5 Saturday 20 October 2012 Ben Spies (11) USA. His best top speed was 319 kmh with a lap time of 2'02.334, considerably slower than Lorenzo on the other factory Yamaha M1. |
 6 Saturday 20 October 2012 Nicky Hayden (69) 320 kmh, lap time 2'02.679 leads Cal Crutchlow (35) 317 kmh and 2'01.995. The sky is becoming ever more threatening. |
 7 Saturday 20 October 2012 Karel Abraham CZE (17) rides his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati through turn 1 from a top speed of 318 kmh. His lap time was 2'04.566 - 3.4 seconds from the lead. |
 8 Saturday 20 October 2012 Ivan Silva, Spain, was the slowest at 296 with a lap time of 2'06.622. He was 5.436 seconds behind the leader Dani Pedrosa. |
 9 Saturday 20 October 2012 Hector Barbera (8) Spain, Ducati top speed 321 kmh, lap time 2'03.112, 1.926 behind the leader. |
 10 Saturday 20 October 2012 Michele Pirro (51) Italy. Top speed 298 kmh lap time 2'05.615, 4.429 behind the leader in 16th position. His is a CRT bike and slower than the factory bikes. |
 11 Saturday 20 October 2012 Casey Stoner (1) Australia, top speed 323 kmh with a lap time of 2'01.693. Casey finished FP3 in third place 0.507 seconds off the pace - not too shabby with a broken foot. |
 12 Saturday 20 October 2012 Cal Crutchlow runs wide . . . |
 13 Saturday 20 October 2012 . . . and rejoins the session. |
 14 Saturday 20 October 2012 Colin Edwards (5) USA is always recognisable from the way he sticks his neck out during cornering. His top speed was 304 kmh with a lap time of 2'05.407. Colin finishes this session in 15th place 4.221 seconds off the pace. |
 15 Saturday 20 October 2012 With 10 minutes to the end of free practice, it's Pedrosa 1, Lorenzo 2, Doviziosso 3 with Stoner 5 and Rossi in 11. Stoner eventually finishes third and pushes Dovizioso into fourth. We are too far away to read the screen so we look through my telephoto lens. |
 16 Saturday 20 October 2012 Then Moto2 free practice FP3 starts. Marqez (93) enters turn 1 with a best top speed of 267 kmh and a best lap time of 1 2'08. He was only 10th fastest this morning. |
 17 Saturday 20 October 2012 Moto2 Free Practice and its still a bit wet. Yuki Takahashi (72) takes it easy through turn 1. |
 18 Saturday 20 October 2012 It's raining and with eight minutes to go it's Nakajima, Zarco and Redding. |
 19 Saturday 20 October 2012 Rain starts to bring the riders down |
 20 Saturday 20 October 2012 Axel Pons (49) slides off at turn 1. |
 21 Saturday 20 October 2012 He slides and slides over the wet pavement. |
 22 Saturday 20 October 2012 A marshall assists him to get his bike upright. |
 23 Saturday 20 October 2012 Then other marshals rush to his aid. |
 24 Saturday 20 October 2012 They give him a push start |
 25 Saturday 20 October 2012 The engine fires . . . |
 26 Saturday 20 October 2012 . . . and he's away. |
 27 Saturday 20 October 2012 He rejoins qualifying practice. He doesn't do too badly considering; he finished in 17 place (out of 33) with a top speed of 266 kmh and a lap time of 2'08.703, 1.741 seconds behind the eventual top finisher Pol Espargaro. |
 28 Saturday 20 October 2012 Then Marcel Schrotter from Germany suffers a similar fate. |
 29 Saturday 20 October 2012 Look at the huge skid mark. The wet track did at least protect the bike from grinding itself to pieces. |
 30 Saturday 20 October 2012 The tarmac section before the kitty litter is for Formula 1 cars. This means they can run (or be pushed) wide at turn 1 without damaging their cars. Very sensible. |
 31 Saturday 20 October 2012 The marshalls help him restart his engine and he rejoins QP. |
 32 Saturday 20 October 2012 Marcel qualified in 25th place 2.522 second behind Espargaro. His top speed was 262 kmh with a lap time of 2'09.484 |
 33 Saturday 20 October 2012 Now the three classes begin the serious task of qualifying. Moto3 qualifying begins which is an event that doesn't interest the Reeves boys all that much. |
 34 Saturday 20 October 2012 Moto3 qualifying with 17' 02 to go and it's Folger, Cortese and Vazquez with local hero Khairuddin in fourth. Eventually it was Khairuddin in a crowd pleasing top spot with second going to Folger and third to Cortese. Khairuddin's qualifying pace was 221 kmh with a lap time of 2'13.885 |
 35 Saturday 20 October 2012 Now for the big boys. Dovizioso finished in third place with a top speed of 324 kmh and a lap time of 2'00.567. He finished 0.233 behind top place qualifier Jorge Lorenzo. |
 36 Saturday 20 October 2012 Eventual second place qualifier Dani Pedrosa. He finished 0.194 seconds behind Lorenzo with a top speed of 325 kmh and a lap time of 2'00.528. |
 37 Saturday 20 October 2012 Dovi runs wide as does Ivan Silva. |
 38 Saturday 20 October 2012 Dean enjoys the spectacle on his own while Sam and I struggle for possession of the telephoto lens. |
 39 Saturday 20 October 2012 Stefan Bradl in first first year of MotoGP qualified sixth, 1.157 off the lead. His top speed was 322 kmh with a lap time of 2'01.491. |
 40 Saturday 20 October 2012 Rossi was never in it, qualifying in 11th place. His numbers were 322 kmh, 2'01.783 lap time, 1.449 seconds behind Lorenzo. He did better on race day though. |
 41 Saturday 20 October 2012 When you look at his lean angle (not leaned over like the top riders), you can see he is just not comfortable on the Ducati. Fortunately Yamaha comes to his rescue in 2013 and he's only too happy to eat humble pie. |
 42 Saturday 20 October 2012 Ben Spies qualified on the second row in sixth spot 0.851 seconds behind Lorenzo. His top speed was 320 kmh with a lap time of 2'01.185. |
 43 Saturday 20 October 2012 In the race, he crashed out 5 laps before the end. He had already announced his intention to leave Yamaha at the end of the season. The marriage just never worked out. This suited Rossi as it meant a ride on the factory M1 was available during 2013. |
 44 Saturday 20 October 2012 Casey qualified on the second row in fourth, 0.477 seconds behind Lorenzo. His top speed was 321 kmh with a lap time of 2'00.811. Pretty good considering he's riding with a broken foot. |
 45 Saturday 20 October 2012 There is 2'45 to go and its Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Dovizioso with Casey close behind in 4th and Rossi staggering around in 9th. |
 46 Saturday 20 October 2012 28 seconds later Rossi runs wide. |
 47 Saturday 20 October 2012 This spoils his last lap run hence his lowly 11th qualifying spot. |
 48 Saturday 20 October 2012 Lorenzo. He's da man! He takes pole positon with a top speed of 323 kmh and a lap time of 2'00.334 |
 49 Saturday 20 October 2012 The chequered flag is out and most riders are still on their last lap. No one expects Barbera to do this well, 7th. Bradl bumps Hayden out of eight which means he and Rossi go down one more spot. |
 50 Saturday 20 October 2012 Qualifying is mostly more exciting than the race. At this point Spies and Bautista are still out on the track but maintain their positions. A dejected Nicky Hayden is in the background having just completed his final lap. |
 51 Saturday 20 October 2012 Then it's picture time with Sam. |
 52 Saturday 20 October 2012 He was an absolute delight to be with. He thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and one would have to classify his behaviour as "exceptional". |
 53 Saturday 20 October 2012 Me and my eight year old grandson. |
 54 Saturday 20 October 2012 That's the Sam we know and love: the one who pulls faces. |
 55 Saturday 20 October 2012 The day in the turn 1 grandstand worked out very well. The Sepang International Raceway is about 10 kms from the airport. |
 56 Saturday 20 October 2012 We catch a taxi back to our hotel in KL but I notice my left ankle is a little sore. Oh oh! Stay tuned. |
