KUALA LUMPUR: Moto3 rider Hakim Danish Ramli faces a demanding recovery ride in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix after qualifying 23rd at Phillip Island on Saturday.
The AEON Credit-MT Helmets-MSi rider clocked 1 minute 37.169 seconds to finish ninth in the first qualifying session (Q1), missing out on a place in Q2.
Only the top four advanced, with Danish finishing 0.786 seconds behind Indonesia's Veda Pratama, who secured the final qualifying berth before going on to claim pole position.
Danish was 0.908 seconds adrift of Q1 leader Guido Pini of Italy, who topped the session in 1:36.261.
The result leaves the Malaysian on the eighth row alongside Japan's Zen Mitani and Spain's Jesus Rios.
Danish had also struggled for pace on Friday, finishing 25th in practice with a best lap of 1:37.774.
Although he improved that mark by 0.605 seconds in qualifying, it was insufficient to progress.
He will now need to work his way through the field to challenge for points in Sunday's race.
The 19-year-old has already demonstrated his potential this season, claiming his maiden Grand Prix victory at Brno in June.
At the front, Honda Team Asia's Pratama became Indonesia's first Moto3 pole sitter after producing a late lap of 1:35.299.
He edged Spain's Maximo Quiles by just 0.021 seconds, while Australian Joel Kelso completed the front row, a further 0.046 seconds behind.
Danish's teammate Ryusei Yamanaka qualified 17th, leaving both riders with ground to recover on race day.
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