Tom Lüthi: “I have never seen this…”
Riders, mechanics, managers, and everyone else including spectators were waiting for a long time this Saturday evening for a decision that was fairly obvious for a couple of hours: as a result of a heavy rainfall that hit Doha and its surroundings on Friday night and that lasted until Saturday afternoon, it was not possible to use the track.
Without a drainage, the Qatari circuit could not be cleaned, despite the best efforts of the circuit staff. “As the time went by, it was becoming more and more obvious: it was impossible to ride in these conditions; the track was clearly dry in some areas but others had wet patches in the corners which made our job impossible,” explained Gilles Bigot, the technical manager of the Swiss team.
“I have never seen this,” said Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten), who will start the first Grand Prix of the season on Sunday evening from the front row of the grid, having signed the third fastest time in the combined free practice classification (two sessions on Thursday and one on Friday). “Looking at the photos, it was clear from the beginning that no miracle was to happen,” added Lüthi. “The rules are the same for everyone, we should see an exciting race on Sunday evening, I am ready.”
The boss of CGBM Evolution, the company that aligns the two Swiss teams on the Moto2 World Championship grid, Frédéric Corminboeuf, does not have much more to add: “It is a pity that they kept us waiting for so long without giving us any information. But I do think that there were many things to arrange before making official the only decision that was possible. If the race is dry, which should be the case, our guys, Tom, Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten) after his very good day on Friday and Julian Simón are ready,” added the boss.
The race is scheduled to start at 6:20 pm Sunday evening, (new) Swiss time.
Losail (Qat). GP of Qatar Moto2 starting grid: 1. Morbidelli (ITA, Kalex), 2’00.349 (160.900 km/h); 2. A. Marquez (SPA, Kalex), 2’00.372; 3. Lüthi (SWI, Kalex, carXpert Interwetten), 2’00.422; 4. Nakagami (JPN, Kalex), 2’00’’502; 5. Oliveira (POR, KTM), 2’00.555; 6. Kent (GBR, Kalex), 2’00.568; 7. Aegerter (SWI, Suter), 2’00.774; 8. Vierge (SPA, Tech 3), 2’00.791; 9. Bagnaia (Ita), Kalex, 2’00’’793; 10. Quartararo (FRA, Kalex), 2’00.806. Further: 16. Raffin (SWI, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), 2’00.999; 26. Simón (SPA, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), 2’01.903. 34 classified.
