Thomas Lüthi (7th) on the third row for the Grand Prix of Aragon

Extreme heat and minimal gaps – the Top-17 riders were all in less than a second on the longest circuit of the world championship calendar, with its 5,077 meters and general doubts about tyre wear – this is the sum-up of today’s qualifying for the Moto2 Grand Prix of Aragon, the last European round before the overseas triple header and the season’s final in Valencia on 12 November. Tom Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten), classified in 7th position in the end, will start from the third row of the grid, with his biggest title rival for the Moto2 title an his future team mate in MotoGP, Franco Morbidelli, a few meters in front of him. Tom was only 0.2 seconds off the pole. Iker Lecuona (Garage Plus Interwetten), the promising Spaniard of CGBM Evolution, will start from 28th on the grid, on the same row as his team mate Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten), who was 30th fastest. Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of the structure that aligns the two Swiss teams on the Moto2 grid, sums up the day: “Today was positive for Tom and his team. Two seconds off the pole is nothing, he has a solid pace, although not better than some of his direct rivals. When the gaps are so small, you need to find a perfect lap to be right in the front and today, in the second sector, we still struggled a bit. But the important thing is, as I always say it, the race! It is a pity for Iker, there was a misunderstanding during his last run and he did his personal best lap times with tyres that were already very used. I am sure that he can do a good job in the race tomorrow. Jesko made us happy in the morning in the third free practice session. He was only 1,3 second off the pole but, unfortunately, he wanted too much in qualifying and got too tense in the worst moment. His lack of consistency is worrying we continue to work together to make him feel more comfortable on the bike, even in such heat as today.”  

He said…
Tom Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten, 7th):
”We are close, very close to the front but we are only in seventh position after a solid lap. I quickly analysed the plan of my rivals and basically we all had the same thought: it will be difficult to manage grip during the whole race. When you know this, everyone always asks whether I plan a “tactical” race. The problem is, with such small gaps, you cannot say “I will try to save my tyres at the beginning of the race”. Even more so if you are seventh on the grid and you need to take some risks during the first laps. I will need to manage my efforst quite early on, if I am given the chance.” 

_{Alcañiz (Spain). GP of Aragon, Moto2, Qualification: 1. Oliveira (POR, KTM), 1’53.736 (160.600 km/h); 2. Pasini (ITA, Kalex), + 0.021; 3. A. Marquez (SPA, Kalex), + 0.071; 4. Morbidelli (ITA, Kalex), à 0.105; 5. Corsi (ITA, Speed Up), + 0.140; 6. Navarro (SPA, Kalex), + 0.186; 7. Lüthi (SWI, Kalex, carXpert Interwetten), + 0.240; 8. Schrötter (GER, Suter), + 0.317; 9. Cortese (GER, Suter), + 0.336; 10. Nakagami (JPN, Kalex), + 0.413. Further: 11. Aegerter (SWI, Suter), + 0.489; 28. Lecuona (SPA, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), + 1.488; 30. Raffin (SWI, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), + 1.916. 34 classified.}