Aegerter lacks feeling, Mulhauser far off
After topping the time sheets in the third free practice on Saturday morning, Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) had to settle for a twelfth position in qualifying for the German Grand Prix. He struggled with serious problems with the set-up of his bike. The fourth man of the provisional Moto2 world championship classification has also been fighting the flu. The situation was even more complicated for Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten) and his teammate Robin Mulhauser, who finished 23rd and 26th respectively in a very tight classification in Sachsenring - as usual. The Top-18 riders are in less than a second! Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of the Swiss structure, sums up the day: "We are very disappointed of course, especially after this morning's session. We did not manage to give our riders a bike that would give them a good feeling; on top of that Tom had a difficult night unfortunately with a fever. Today he was reaching out for his energy reserves and I am sure that he will be much better tomorrow in the race. Dominique does not have any feeling with the bike, he is complaining about the front but also lack of grip on the rear; we have two important test days next Tuesday and Wednesday in Brno where we are going to try some new parts. We know Dominique's strong points and we now have to do our best to give him a bike that will make him feel comfortable. I expected more from Robin, he has the knife between his teeth; he really wants it but he cannot find a solution; I understand that his situation is not easy because even when there are some positive signs, he is always at the back."
They said...
Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten, 23rd): "I am really far off and obviously very disappointed. We keep trying different technical solutions but we cannot find the key. I am not enjoying riding this bike at all so I am tense and as a result, my times are not coming. Being 23rd on a circuit where I claimed a pole position two years ago and then claimed my first Grand Prix victory could seem astonishing, in fact a circuit suits a rider when he can ride fast but this weekend I am not there yet. I am going through a difficult period: my family situation with my father's health problems, then my crash in Suzuka and finally negotiations regarding my future. All that is putting pressure on me."
Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten, 26th): "Just as much as Assen, Sachsenring is a difficult circuit for me. But I cannot use this to explain my pen-ultimate position. The race will be long with 30 laps, it will be physically demanding and towards the end, tyres will be sliding more and more so maybe there will be something to fight for. Also I never managed to put my partial best lap times together in one lap during qualifying. My ideal time would have moved me up in the classification but I hit too much traffic too many times."
