And now let’s go to Qatar !
Having spent 3 days under the Spanish sun of Andalusia in Jerez de la Frontera, the winter tests are completed and riders and teams are focused on Qatar. In a week from now the 2014 world championship will kick off on the circuit of Losail, about 20km from the centre of Doha. The entire equipment - bikes, material, spare parts - was put into containers this evening and the long journey around the world may begin with Qatar, Texas and Argentina being the first three rounds on the calendar. The Technomag-carXpert team ends the winter preparation with a positive feeling : Dominique Aegerter finished 9th overall in this 3-day test and he is still holding back as he marked his fastest lap time on the last lap of the test! Further back, a victim of a big crash on Wednesday, Robin Mulhauser continues to learn the most competitive championship of the world in a category where the best protagonists have never been so fast in Jerez.
Dominique Aegerter (9th ): "I've never been so fast in Jerez as at the end of today. My overall pace was also interesting today. I finished ninth, missing four potential rivals so I am more or less in the same situation like last year. What is more important is the amount of work that we have done : the front, rear, forks, suspension; we have discovered many interesting things and our partnership with people from WP is more and more efficient. The winter is over, and it was very eventful for me. Now we have to look into the future and I can see next week our first race. My objective? To continue my progress in comparison with last year. In 2013 I had a great start to the season - 2 fourth finishes - and if I can do just the same this year, I will be one happy rider."
Robin Mulhauser (30th) : "I crashed again at the beginning of the second session of the day. Dominique was coming to overtake me, I tried to stay behind him on the breaks, the bike started sliding, I was able to hold it for a while but then I lost it. In a shock, I bruised my right knee so I went to the medical centre but nothing's broken. These final tests were difficult for me with these two crashes, two mistakes of a rookie. I know that I have to stay strong in my head, I also know that I need some time to understand the bike but I think that the time will come. Now let's forget everything and let's be positive : the GP of Qatar is ahead of us ! "
