Aegerter hungry to race, Mulhauser too tense
The 2016 Motorcycle World Championship season got underway on Thursday evening under the spotlights of the Losail circuit close to Doha (Qatar). Two free practice sessions were scheduled for the 30 Moto2 participants on this first day. Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) was the fastest in the opening free practice and sixth in the second practice, having tested with tyres that already covered a whole race distance. Fourth overall today, Lüthi confirmed that he is in a great form. The gaps are tiny in this class; Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten) was 24th and his teammate Robin Mulhauser was 28th. The boss of CGBM Evolution, the owner of the two teams, Frédéric Corminboeuf sums up the first day: “What is really positive today is of course Tom Lüthi’s day. Tonight he did his fastest lap with tyres that already had 30 laps, which is extremely positive for the race. He confirmed the impression he made during the test last week and all he has to do is prepare for the qualifying and, of course, even more importantly, for the race on Sunday. Dominique struggled a bit more to find a good feeling; he has never been the best in practice and perhaps he also needs to get back into it because he hasn’t raced since last September. I am sure that this first Grand Prix on Sunday will be really good for him. As for Robin, after his tests I have to admit I expected more. He is very tense, nervous and he has to relax on track to be able to show what he is capable of.”
They said…
Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten, 24th) “If you are one second off in Moto2 you are out of Top-20 in free practice. It was definitely a disappointing day for me. However, I know that we are making a progress; the feeling is not as bad as my position but I simply cannot use my bike’s potential in its entirety yet. After five or six laps, my tyres lose grip already and on this circuit that has never been easy for me, I am struggling a lot with chatter – vibrations in the front. Because I am tense, the more I want, the more I try to brake late and the worse it gets. When the lap times are not coming we tend to do too much.. and that is completely wrong. We continue to work, I have the impression that we have found something interesting at the end of the session and I am sure that we are on the right track.”
Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten, 28th) “I had a problem that I did not experience during the tests: a lot of vibrations in the front. It is strange and it simply does not allow me to be faster. At the end of the session I was behind Baldassari, I tried to hang onto him but I was repeatedly losing the front. The track has changed a lot in a few days, maybe because of the rain on Wednesday, maybe also because of a lot of riding on it on this first day of practice. We have to forget everything we did in testing last week and start afresh. Of course the rider has scope for improvement but it is mainly on the technical side that we need to progress before qualifying because on Saturday I do need to be in Top-20, ideally Top-15 to be in the points already.”
