Great surprise for Aegerter (5th), Mulhauser unlucky

For the first time in his long career - this Sunday 20 March 2016 he started his already fourteenth full Grand Prix season - Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) won the opening round of the championship. Under the spotlights of the Losail circuit close to Doha (Qatar), the Swiss rider did not get trapped as many other riders at the start. Ninth on the starting grid, he moved up to third in the first corner before he took the lead and was fighting with young Italian Franco Morbidelli until the chequered flag. Morbidelli, him also, was eventually penalized for jumping the start. This performance marks a perfect start to the 2016 season and a confirmation of the quality of work done by the whole team in the last two months. Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten) was also very happy: fifth in the first race since his serious accident during the Grand Prix of Aragon 2015, in the race "Domi" was able to show his consistent progress since last week's test. Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten) was in sixteenth position when he was given a jump start ride through penalty by the Race Direction as many other riders. He finished twentieth. Deeply touched as he got off the podium, Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of the Swiss structure, could only be happy with the outcome today: "This is amazing and full of emotions also because Tom's chief technician, Gilles Bigot, won the race on this circuit also when he was working with the terribly missed Shoya Tomizawa (2010). Tom had an excellent start and an impressive race. He won fair and square. It is a perfect start to the season but it's only one race, we have to stay focused. The day was also good for Dominique; we expected a Top-10 finish and he was fifth. He really needed to race after such a long, involuntary break and he managed it well. We know that he doesn't struggles to last during the race, now he needs to find the speed he is still missing. Robin was unlucky; he was in a group with riders that were faster than him, he was close to the points when he had to do a ride through because he was also a bit optimistic at the start. The whole team did an excellent job, we won the race, we had two riders in Top-5, it's perfect."

They said...

Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten, 5th): "I am really happy for Tom and the whole team and of course I am happy with my result, 11 points, too. This was my first race since my big accident last year and although I did not think there would be consequences for me, I needed a proof, which came today. That being said, at the start and during the first laps, it wasn't the "old Domi" yet. I wasn't as aggressive as I could have been. On the other hand, in the second half of the race I found myself again and I was very happy to succeed in a duel with Danny Kent at the end. In this category, it is like being in a real war and the race today was really good for me."

Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten, 20th): "I struggled the whole weekend. We tried everything when it comes to set-up, we tried to make the bike longer, shorter, nothing worked. My start was good, unfortunately it was too much and I was penalised by a ride through. It was a pity because I was quickly under 2'02. This was a weekend to forget."