Second of the eighteen rounds of the motorcycling world championship, the Argentine GP was difficult for Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten), winner of the first race of the season, two weeks ago in Qatar.
The rain on Sunday morning muddied the waters and even though the Moto2 race was ultimately run on slick tires, set-up issues meant that Tom was unable to fight for the podium. However, he retains the lead in the general classification by five points.
On the other hand, a broad smile lit up the face of Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten). After experiencing serious problems on Saturday during qualifying (19th time), “Domi” was impressive in the race, returning to fifth place, a remarkable performance which allows him to maintain this same fifth place in the championship. Third driver of the Swiss team, Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten) finished 22nd.
Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of the Swiss structure, can only draw a positive assessment of this day: “A very big race for Dominique, who did not achieve as sensational a start as he is used to, but whose first rounds were examples of aggression and willpower. He lost 7 seconds in the first round. From now on, our goal is of course to improve his position on the grid, because he has the means to fight for the podium. Tom had more difficulty in the first few laps; he then found a good rhythm, riding several rounds in a row within the leaders' times, but the damage was done. He retains the lead in the championship, that's the most important thing and I know that we are soon arriving at tracks that will suit him very well. Things are clear with Robin: he needs to rework his driving, we ask him a lot of things and he did his job today, even if that doesn't yet translate into results. »
They said…
Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten, 5th) “This result is of course positive. Didn't people say this winter that my goal was to regularly finish in the top 5? Here I am! That said, I was too far back on the starting grid to hope for better. I lost 7 seconds on the good group on the first lap. I then came back, but the gap was too big. I found myself fighting with Rins, who was very aggressive when he passed me. Strong action, but it's a race. Even if it's the same result as in Qatar, I know that we improved over the whole weekend compared to the first race and that we could have done even better if I hadn't experienced any problems. also big concerns in qualifying. Now it's Austin, a circuit that I love: if all goes well, it will go very quickly there! »
Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten, 7th) “As early as this morning during the warm-up, I had a lot of trouble finding good sensations, especially when entering corners. With this bike, when I ride very aggressively, like in the dry in Qatar, it's perfect; but in the rain or in mixed conditions, where normally I was always very comfortable, we have not yet found the panacea in terms of settings. We continue to work, I have complete confidence since my victory in Qatar and the positive point is that I retain my first place in the championship. Now, a new adventure awaits us this week in Texas: another circuit, other conditions, I'm already looking forward to it. »
Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten, 22nd) “I had a lot of difficulty reading the trajectories at the start of the race, after a failed start. I then found a better rhythm, I was even quite close to the group who fought for fifteenth place, but I never managed to make contact. I continue to work a lot, I question myself, we will get there. »
