Scary crash for Tom Lüthi in Sepang
Having just started his last run during the qualifying session on the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten) had a terrible crash as he high sided off his motorcycle and barely got himself up on his feet. In a shock, the Swiss rider was first transported to the medical centre of the circuit where he underwent first check-ups. “He has pain in his left ankle,” explained his chief technician, Gilles Bigot. “We are now heading to the hospital in an ambulance because this is already his third crash in a few days and second with a serious hit to his head. The doctors just want to be sure with an additional scan.”
Upon his return to the circuit and before returning to the hotel, it was clear that Tom suffered a painful fracture to his left foot. He will rest tonight and decide tomorrow morning, together with the GP doctors, whether to take part in the race or not.
Having qualified in 5th position, less than 2 tenths of a second off the pole, Tom Lüthi will start the race on Sunday morning – start at 6 :20 am European winter time – from the second row of the grid. 24th and 27th respectively, Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten) and Iker Lecuona (Garage Plus Interwetten) both ended up 1,7 seconds off the pole in qualifying and are hoping to score points on Sunday during the penultimate race of the 2017 world championship.
Sepang (Malaysia). Malaysian GP Moto2, qualifying: 1. Morbidelli (ITA, Kalex), 2’06.406 (157,800 km/h); 2. Oliveira (POR, KTM), +0.026; 3. Quartararo (FRA, Kalex), +0.072; 4. A. Marquez (SPA, Kalex), +0.105; 5.Lüthi (SWI, Kalex, carXpert Interwetten), +0.187; 6. Bagnaia (ITA, Kalex), +0.387; 7. Schrötter (GER, Suter), +0.443; 8. B. Binder (RSA, KTM), +0.503; 9. Nakagami (JPN, Kalex), +0.623; 10. Pasini (ITA, Kalex), +0.717. Then: 24. Raffin (SWI, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), +1.442; 27. Lecuona (SPA, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), +1.690. 29 classified. The two Kiefer Racing riders, Aegerter (SWI, Suter) and Tar. MacKenzie (GBR, Suter) did not start due to the passing of their team boss nd manager, Stefan Kiefer, on Thursday night.
