Another superb race for Tom Lüthi (3rd) in Catalunya
Round seven of the season, sixth podium: Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten) has made the most solid and successful start to a season in his career since his 125cc world title in 2005. Finishing third in the Catalan Grand Prix that took place in scorching temperatures – 32 degrees air temperature, 50 degrees track temperature – only Spanish Alex Marquez and Italian Mattia Pasini, the winner in Mugello last week, were able to beat Lüthi. The championship leader Franco Morbidelli from Italy was classified sixth, which puts the Swiss rider only 7 points behind in the overall classification. The day was more difficult for the other two riders of the Swiss team run by Frédéric Corminboeuf, with a 24th and 25th position for Jesko Raffin and Iker Lecuona (Garage Plus Interwetten) respectively: “Seven races and six podiums, we have never seen this in Tom’s career. Also he has brought the gap down to 7 points from the championship leader. All of this is very positive, especially because we are still not happy with two or three small things, which means there is still a margin for improvement. We are hoping to find a solution during our two-day test here on Tuesday and Wednesday. The objective? It is to start every race weekend even better. I would like to thank my whole team once again, this consistency and performance are the result of hard work of each and every one of the team members. Jesko did not find a good rhythm in the race. It was a difficult race for him on a circuit where his friend Luis Salóm lost his life last year. He wanted too much and was too tense. Iker had too many things on his mind this weekend, there were many people around him, he knew that he had to finish the race; long story short – he made his job more difficult for himself at the beginning of the race before he relaxed.”
He said…
Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten, 3rd):
"It was a very difficult race with this heat. My start was great before the first corner came where I had to run a bit wide. I lost too many positions in the first few meters before finding a good pace. Hats off to Alex Marquez: even though I did not lose initial contact, I think he was on another planet this weekend. I closed the gap on Pasini but after a couple of warnings I understood that it was not worth trying the impossible and I settled for a podium, which also allowed us to pick up some points from Morbidelli.”
Montmeló (Spain). GP of Catalunya, Race Moto2: 1. A. Marquez (SPA, Kalex), 23 Runden, 42’20.502 (150.500 km/h); 2. Pasini (ITA, Kalex), + 3.525; 3. Lüthi (SWI, Kalex, carXpert Interwetten), + 4.452; 4. Oliveira (POR, KTM), + 5.322; 5. Baldassari (ITA, Kalex), + 9.930; 6. Morbidelli (ITA, Kalex), + 14.172; 7. Navarro (SPA, Kalex), + 16.192; 8. Quartararo (FRA, Kalex), + 18.217; 9. Vierge (SPA, Tech 3), + 19.096; 10. Syahrin (MAL, Kalex), + 19.179; 11. Nakagami (JPN, Kalex), 19.361; 12. Corsi (ITA, Speed Up), + 19.957; 13. I. Viñales (SPA, Kalex), + 20.984; 14. Bagnaia (ITA, Kalex), + 22.220; 15. Locatelli (ITA, Kalex), + 23.501. Further: 17. Aegerter (SWI, Suter), + 24.423; 24. Raffin (SWI, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), + 47.390; 25. Lecuona (SPA, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), + 54.588. 28 classified.
World Championship (7/18): 1. Morbidelli, 123 Punkte; 2. Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten), 116; 3. A. Marquez, 103; 4. Oliveira, 83; 5. Pasini, 69; 6. Bagnaia, 55; 7. Nakagami, 46; 8. Aegerter, 46; 9. Marini (ITA, Kalex), 41; 10. Vierge, 39. Further: 23. Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten), 5. 28 classified.
