Tom Lüthi (2nd), 50th glorious podium
Finishing second in the Moto2 Grand Prix of the Americas on the circuit COTA close to Austin (Texas), Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten) took the fiftieth podium of his fantastic career. What started off fourteen years ago, on a sunny Sunday of June 2003, when he stood up onto the second step of the podium after the 125cc Grand Prix of Catalunya, only 2 tenths of a second behind a certain Dani Pedrosa, who is also still in the game (third in the MotoGP race in Texas). Starting from the second row of the grid, the Swiss rider lost a few positions at the start before finding his pace and crunching his opponents… apart from Franco Morbidelli, who won his third consecutive race this season. With this second position and three podiums in 2017, Lüthi is in full contention for the world championship classification, while the Circus travels back to Europe and resumes in Jerez de la Frontera in two weeks. Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten) from Zurich, determined to fight for world championship points again, was unfortunately caught up in the collision between Baldassari and Hernandez on the opening lap and lost his chances. He fought his way back from last to 21st position, signing lap times that could have seen him in the Top-15. Three podiums in three races, one can imagine the boss of the double Swiss structure, Frédéric Corminboeuf, would be happy with the start of the championship: “Another very good race for Tom, once again in the Top-3. The start of this season shows that even a rider with so much experience can still make a progress. He changed a lot in terms of how he approaches a race and his collaboration with his chief technician Gilles Bigot makes the difference. The last two races were on circuits where we know Tom is not comfortable and he finished on the podium in both as he did in Qatar. He is also in a top form physically, which is also important for the whole championship. Jesko was not lucky today: he was determined to get points; his start was good but he was completely blocked out by the collision of his two opponents. He came out last but was able to recover, although the fifteenth position was too far with such a handicap from the start. That said, he confirmed this season so far that he has made another step forward and I am sure the first race weekend where he finds a good pace from the start in each practice and the race, we can see some great things from him.”
He said…
Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten, 2nd):
"I am very happy with this podium, which I would like to dedicate to my chief technician Gilles Bigot, who this morning in the warm-up, together with his guys, gave me a bike on which I was very comfortable in the race. I did lose a few positions at the start, but I caught up with the leading group. I was even surprised, while in second position, that I was closing the gap on Morbidelli, before I made a few small mistakes and Franco disappeared. These last couple of years I often struggled physically on this circuit, which is the most demanding for the arm I injured in a test in February 2013. All the work we did with my trainer in the winter paid off. Morbidelli was excellent this weekend once again but I am not going to let him win all the races, I am more determined than ever to have my share of the cake and we are going to give it everything. When? There are circuits where I have already won a few times like Le Mans but my objective is to fight for the victory in every race, not in one place rather than another.”
Austin/COTA (USA). GP of the Americas Moto2: 1. Morbidelli (ITA, Kalex), 19 laps, 41’20.078 (152.000 km/h); 2. Lüthi (SWI, Kalex, carXpert Interwetten), + 2.633; 3. Nakagami (JPN, Kalex), + 6.809; 4. A. Marquez (SPA, Kalex), + 9.852; 5. Aegerter (SWI, Suter), + 10.927; 6. Oliveira (POR, KTM), + 13.029; 7. Corsi (ITA, Speed Up), + 13.335; 8. Schrötter (GER, Suter), + 13.754; 9. Vierge (SPA, Tech 3), + 18.079; 10. Marini (ITA, Kalex), + 21.418; 11. Syahrin (MAL, Kalex), + 21.430; 12. Quartararo (FRA, Kalex), + 21.736; 13. Siméon (BEL, Kalex), + 21.974; 14. Cardus (SPA, KTM), + 24.245; 15. Navarro (SPA, Kalex), + 24.863. Further: 21. Raffin (SWI, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), + 38.953. 25 classified. Lecuona (SPA, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten) didn't start the race.
World Championship (3/18): 1. Morbidelli, 75 points; 2. Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten), 56; 3. Oliveira, 43; 4. Nakagami, 32; 5. Vierge, 25; 6. A. Marquez, 24; 7. Baldassari (ITA, Kalex), 21; 8. Marini, 20; 9. Corsi, 19; 10. Aegerter, 18. Furhter: 18. Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten), 5. 22 classified.
