KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — Malaysia's new Moto3 sensation, Adam Norrodin achieved second grid pole start at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas despite the challenging weather.

Adam, who recorded the sixth fastest time of 2:19.469 seconds in the qualifying on Saturday (early today in Malaysia) after nine laps, hopes for a good race after last week's disappointment at the Argentina Grand Prix.

“Today’s qualifying was hard but it went really well. The weather kept changing so track conditions were quite difficult, at the start it was wet and then it dried up really quick.

“We came straight in to change back to slicks and then just kept going, I concentrated on trying to push hard because we did not know what would happen next. I will push from the beginning to do a good job and I will take as much as I can for the mistake I made at the last race in Argentina,” he said after the 40-minute qualifying session.

The 17-year-old almost secured second place in the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit last weekend but fell on the final corner, but managed to finish the race in 11th place by pushing his machine to the finishing line.

Meanwhile, Adam's Drive M7 SIC Racing Team partner, Jakub Kornfeil will tart the 18 lap race from fourth position after setting a time of 2:19.068s.

“It started off wet but both riders thought smart and made a really good call to come in and change back to slicks straight after their out lap. They saw the track was drying out, so they knew they had to take the opportunity,“ Team Manager Johan Stigefelt said.

“In any case, fourth and sixth on the second row will make it easier for both of them. For us whether it is wet or dry I am feeling confident they can both do well,“ he added.

However, Khairul Idham Pawi from Honda Team Asia, who recorded history to emerge as the first Malaysian to win a race in Moto3 last week, will start from the last grid.

The 17-year-old just managed to achieve 32nd spot after clocking 2:24.640s.

“It was very difficult qualifying for me. With this complicated conditions, I was not able to improve my lap time. For sure, starting from the back of the grid is not easy, but I will give my everything to get a good result,” Khairul Idham said in a statement.

In Moto2, Hafizh Syahrin of Petronas Raceline Malaysia will start the race in 17th position after clocking 2:10.292s in qualifying. — Bernama