Iker Lecuona learns, Mulhauser explores in the rain
Fastest in the first free practice session for the Grand Prix of Malaysia on the circuit of Sepang, Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) was seventh this afternoon and seventh overall in tricky conditions once again. The session was red flagged this morning when riders only completed about two laps due to the crash of Julian Simón, Edgar Pons, Sam Lowes and Johann Zarco - rain made its appearance on the Malaysian circuit! The newly surfaced track was still humid in the end of the afternoon and riders had a difficult job to find the ideal solution. 24th and 27th respectively, the carXpert Interwetten duo, Iker Lecuona and Robin Mulhauser also have a lot of work to do on Saturday. Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of the double Swiss structure, comments: "Today was difficult for everyone. We are still far off the best time. The slippery areas never disappeared completely and some took more risks than others. Tom worked really hard, he is calm and understands that he mustn't stress. Now we hope the conditions are better on Saturday: either it rains a lot or it is completely dry. Since the beginning of this overseas tour the weather hasn't been good to Iker Lecuona, who has to learn everything in these very difficult conditions; he has to stay positive and I am sure that he can give us a nice result in the race. Same for Robin Mulhauser: he was in Top-18 for a long time before he failed to make a progress when the track improved a bit at the end of the session."
They said...
Iker Lecuona (carXpert Interwetten, 24th): "This heat is incredible. The humidity even more, this is completely new for me. I even struggled to breathe on the first day; now everything is fine. It is a very 'complete' circuit, very interesting too; unfortunately everyone tells me that the grip has never been like this. And it is my first day! I felt better in the wet this morning than in Australia. But for sure I hope it's dry on Saturday, especially for the qualifying in the afternoon."
Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten, 27th): "I went out in the worst moment this morning: the first two sectors were fine but the third one I nearly drowned, I had never had so much water falling on me, there were a few centimetres of water on the track immediately. Unfortunately we were not able to test anything properly. I was holding off the whole day with these wet traps. I hope that tomorrow the situation is clear: either wet or completely dry. If it's like today, there is no recipe for the situation: you have to switch your brain off and hope for a full lap."
