Lecuona discovers Japan, Mulhauser has a cold
Setting the best time of the day in free practice for the Japanese Moto2 Grand Prix on the circuit of Motegi, Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) made a strong impression this Friday in the country of the Rising Sun that hosts the first round of the overseas triple header. The fourth man of the provisional overall world championship classification with four races remaining this season, the Swiss rider made a record number of fast laps at the end of the session, proving that his pace was already very high. Today was all about learning for young Spaniard Iker Lecuona (carXpert Interwetten), who was called up at the beginning of the week to finish the season 2016; Iker does not know the Motegi circuit, however, he made progress in each session. He was ahead of his teammate Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten) in the classification. Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of CGBM Evolution, the company that aligns the two Swiss teams on the Moto2 grid, made a positive conclusion today: "Tom set the pace, he was already impressive here last year during the two days of practice so we need to confirm this on Saturday in qualifying and then on Sunday, hoping that the weather stays the same. Lüthi is capable of finishing what he started twelve months ago, when he destroyed his tyres after a few kilometres before he crashed. As for Iker, he shouldn't take risks: he is learning this circuit and everything and he was improving throughout the day, showing some very interesting things already this afternoon; his weakness - whether in the European Championship where he raced this year or the first two Grand Prix that he took part in - is the qualifying. He puts too much pressure on himself and we will do everything we can on Saturday for him to feel more at ease. Robin arrived in Japan with a bit of a cold, but he is very relaxed, he did good this morning before he lost himself in the afternoon. With his team he needs to figure out how to progress in each session."
They said...
Iker Lecuona (carXpert Interwetten, 23rd): "Of course I don't know Japan yet, everything is new for me and sometimes I am asking myself if this is not just a dream. I am happy with my first day. We worked step by step for me to learn the bike and the circuit, I made progress throughout each session and I will continue in this direction."
Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten, 28th): "It wasn't too bad this morning, I had a good feeling but unfortunately that wasn't the case in the afternoon as we struggled to find good solutions. We tried different things but we are not there yet, my bike has strange reactions. In brief, we still have a lot of work to do."
