Aegerter taken out by Rins, Mulhauser had a technical problem
The Grand Prix of San Marino & la Riviera di Rimini on the circuit of Misano could have ended really well for Dominique Aegerter (Technomag Racing Interwetten). In the same way that he presented himself in free practice, the rider from Rohrbach had yet another excellent start and was fighting for the victory with the championship leader Johann Zarco from France, when Alex Rins from Spain made a mistake while making a move on Dominique, whom he collected with him. Aegerter couldn’t do anything to avoid the crash. After two pit stops to fix his bike, Domi finished the race very disappointed. Thomas Lüthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten), was also disappointed as he struggled throughout the whole weekend to set-up the bike before he managed to finish 10th in the race and collect six points. The only positive thing is that Lüthi retakes the provisional fourth position in the overall championship standings. Finally, the third man, Robin Mulhauser (Technomag Racing Interwetten), had bad luck today. He had an electronic problem that interfered with the performance of the engine of his Kalex on the sighting lap already. Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of the two teams, summarised this emotional day: “There is a huge disappointment this afternoon for sure but I prefer to remember the positive things. Today Dominique and his team proved that they were able to fight for the victory; unfortunately he was a victim of an attack of a young man, who is fighting for an overall podium in the championship and who was too aggressive at the beginning of the race. It is a pity for Domi, who deserved a lot more. Finishing the race with two pit stops, he showed us that he is a fighter. Robin Mulhauser wasn’t lucky either; his weekend did not start well but he was good in qualifying and warm-up this morning; he had a technical problem, we know that this can happen in this sport. As for Tom Lüthi, his first lap wasn’t great; then when he was riding alone he had the same pace as the fastest guys but that wasn’t enough. We have to find technical solutions and he has to adapt his riding style; Tom retakes the fourth position in the provisional standings and he can still fight for an overall podium.”
They said…
Dominique Aegerter (Technomag Racing Interwetten, 24th): “This is very disappointing. I felt perfect on the bike, we were in the game the whole weekend and we did not receive anything for all our work. Nothing for the team, the fans, the sponsors. The fight with Zarco at the beginning of the race was nice, on the limit perhaps, but I was able to respond each time. Rins arrived and I don’t know why he tried so hard so early. Everything happened too quickly for me to save the situation; I crashed and run to collect my bike that was damaged. I had to return to the box twice before I re-joined the race and my lap times were showing that I would have had a word to say and could have fought for the podium. We have five races left this season, we have to continue in the same direction as this weekend. Of course with a bit more luck!”
Robin Mulhauser (Technomag Racing Interwetten, retired): “As soon as I went out on track to line up on the grid, the engine had strange reactions; there were cuts at 8000 rpm. We tried to fix the problem but after the warm-up lap it was the same. I returned to the box and started from there, after everybody else. But this time the problem was even worse. It was too dangerous to insist on continuing the race. It is a pity because I am sure that today I would have been able to score some points.”
