Aegerter (12th) in free practice, Mulhauser builds his confidence
Dominique Aegerter and his world championship rivals landed back in Europe this week and are back in action in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) facing the heat. 25 degrees air temperature and 33 on the track this morning, 32 and even 53 in the sun in the afternoon for the second free practice of the day! Needless to say that tyres had a lot work to do to last in these conditions. 6th in the heat and 12th overall in the two session - most riders were not able to improve their time in these extreme conditions - the Swiss hero of the last two GPs, Dominique Aegerter, has a lot of work to do in qualifying on Saturday. His Team Technomag-carXpert teammate Robin Mulhauser (34th) is one of the eight riders who were faster in the second session.
Dominique Aegerter (12th): "In these extreme conditions there was no point in using qualifying tyres that lose grip within six or seven laps. Therefore I decided to use this afternoon's session to test different things, mainly a harder front tyre before doing a series of laps on used tyres. Qualifying is going to be in the same conditions, and Sunday's race, at 12:20h, should be something between this morning and this afternoon. I had a further talk with the engineer who prepares the Moto2 engines and they do not have a magical solution for the problems we have been experiencing at the moment. From now on I am 100% focused on the present and the future but for sure if I look at the championship classification it is clear that the points we lost in Qatar and possibly a lost podium in Argentina would do us well."
Robin Mulhauser ( 34th): "I've never ridden a Moto2 bike in such extreme conditions. It is very hot, no grip and I have to fight constantly with the bike that is very slippery. Considering that the lap times of the best riders are 2 seconds faster than in the winter, the problem is clear. I also have to get my confidence back because during the off-season test I crashed four times in Jerez and now in two sessions we have already found good solutions working with the bike. On the brakes I had a really good bike this afternoon."
