Tom Lüthi (14th) still looking for a solution
The world championship circus has arrived back in Europe after the overseas triple header where Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten) managed to climb onto the podium three times (two second positions in Qatar and USA, third position in Argentina). The opening day of the first European round was more difficult for the currently second man of the provisional Moto2 World Championship classification. The first free practice session this morning was wet and teams only had one session this afternoon to work on their bikes. Lüthi has not yet found the correct recipe in Andalusia. Iker Lecuona (Garage Plus Interwetten), who ended up withdrawing from the Grand Prix in Texas, is in a better form as he has finally been able to start his physical programme again after a long break to which he was forced following his crash in the IRTA test here in Jerez in early March. Finally, Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten) had a very difficult day due to a severe cold. Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of the double Swiss structure, wraps up the day in the following words: “Tom encountered the same problems as in testing. He doesn’t have a good feeling with the front. We have to find a solution so he can be more relaxed and push the way he likes. We had a nice surprise from Iker Lecuona today. He is only losing 1,3 seconds compared to the best time. But we cannot speak too soon because after the second session Iker was feeling his shoulder and his arm. Jesko Raffin is unfortunately very ill, he has a bad flu, cough and he is out of force so we cannot judge his performance today. We will do what we can for him to feel better on Saturday and Sunday.”
He said…
Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten, 14th ): “This is the usual Moto2 class: small problems mean that you end up finishing in 14th position in the provisional classification. We still haven’t found the ideal set-up. The good news is that I had the same problems in the morning in the wet as this afternoon. We need to keep working with Gilles because we are 0.8 seconds off the pole and I’m on the limit. After Texas, I did not honestly think the difference would be this big but once again it is the race on Sunday that counts and we need to have the best bike for me to push and fight.”
Jerez de la Frontera (Esp). GP of Spain Moto2, first free practice day (2 sessions): 1. A. Marquez (SPA, Kalex), 1’43.121 (154.400 km/h); 2. Aegerter (SWI, Suter), + 0.158; 3. Vierge (SPA, Tech 3), + 0.220; 4. Quartararo (FRA, Kalex), + 0.256; 5. Morbidelli (ITA, Kalex), + 0.296; 6. Pasini (ITA, Kalex), +0.391; 7. Oliveira (POR, KTM), + 0.423; 8. Marini (ITA, Kalex), + 0.435; 9. Baldassari (ITA, Kalex), + 0.443; 10. Bagnaia (ITA, Kalex), +0.688. Further: 14. Lüthi (SWI, Kalex, carXpert Interwetten), + 0.865; 25. Lecuona (SPA, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), + 1.380; 27. Raffin (SWI, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), + 2.036. 32 classified.
