Aegerter (13th) back in the business, Mulhauser too tense

For the ninth time in his career, Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) will start from pole position in the world championship. Having won in Le Mans four times already - his first success on the top level came in 2005 - Tom set the fastest time in the third fee practice before doing the same in qualifying. With a 1'36.847 the Swiss rider was also three tenths quicker than the fastest ever Moto2 on this circuit that brings him so many good memories. On top of this, Lüthi's pace is also very interesting as he is said to be the man to beat on Sunday in the race. After a difficult first day, Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten) responded really well to qualify in 13th position, which will allow him to start from the fifth row of the grid. Staring yesterday, his teammate Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten) dropped down to 25th position today in an always tight classification - the Top-15 riders are within one second. A smile was on the face of the "boss" Frédéric Corminboeuf: "Tom was strong last year, he won the race starting from the second row; this year he is very strong and he will start from pole, this is obviously a very good sign. But we know that it won't be easy, he needs to get a good start and then see how many riders can stay with him. Dominique saved the situation today, after a difficult Friday; he is 13th, less than a second off and we know how good he is on the start and in the race, he is perfectly capable of defending his currently good position in the championship. With Robin, it's more difficult again: he showed very good signs on Friday, a solid third free practice with old tyres but he did not manage to find a solution for the qualifying. With him there's always a slump during the weekend and we need to fill this gap by working even harder. He needs to push in the race, I don't want to see the number 2 before his name in the classification, a Top-19 at least, that is what I expect from him."

They said...

Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten, 13th)"We found a interesting way today. The gap, which was more than two seconds on Friday is now only 8 tenths after qualifying. This shows that we are working a lot, although my feeling is still not perfect on this circuit and I am not able to tell you what pace I can maintain in the race. That said, 13th in Le Mans, it's better than 18th in Jerez two weeks ago, not only mathematically. It shows that we are making a progress and we will continue on Sunday morning in the warm-up."

Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten, 25th)"Another missed opportunity in this qualifying. I never found the good feeling with new tyres that I had on Friday. With used tyres this morning it wasn't too bad but when the important moment came it wasn't working. I had no confidence in the front, I lost control a few times - without crashing - in our jargon we say "I crossed the skis" to illustrate this situation, which was not fun for me. We do need to find a solution for the race."