The 2017 world championship officially began under the floodlights of the Losail circuit, about twenty kilometers north of Doha (Qatar). This year again, CGBM Evolution fields two teams in Moto2, with the reigning world vice-champion Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten), as well as, under the Garage Plus Interwetten colors, the Zurich native Jesko Raffin and the Spaniard Iker Lecuona (injured during the Jerez de la Frontera tests, the young Iberian diamond is replaced at the start of the season by a former 125 cc world champion, the Spaniard Julian Simón, a driver with great experience).
A few hours before the first gas shots, Fred Corminboeuf, the boss of the structure, confided: “I am confident, after a period of tests that I would describe as correct. I know that a lot of people expected more in terms of results, imagined that Tom would clearly dominate; Personally, I would rather be a hunter than hunted. We are ready for this season which, I am sure, will not be limited to a fight between our vice-world champion Tom Lüthi, the Italian Franco Morbidelli and the Japanese Takaaki Nakagami. We have seen in recent weeks that Alex Marquez has reached an important milestone, Baldassari will be formidable despite a complicated winter period due to pain in one arm, we have discovered an exceptional “rookie”, the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo and we have also given that the brand new KTM, with an excellent Oliveira and a Brad Binder who will find his feet, was very effective. In short: the peloton is still as balanced as ever.”
Victim of several falls with the new Kalex 2017 during the Valencia and Jerez de la Frontera tests, Thomas Lüthi uses a 2016 vintage motorcycle in Qatar: “To better understand the developments made, we considered it useful to rebuild a machine of last year, which Tom felt so good about; We understand that several of our competitors use mixed solutions, with parts from both models. We opted for this solution, because on a psychological level, it was important,” continues the boss. “From a technical point of view, Kalex has changed the shape and position of the tank, the saddle is also different, which places the rider a little higher. The transfer of weight is thus modified, which causes this lack of confidence in the front that many pilots have experienced; but we will find the solution!”
The good surprise of the last pre-GP tests last week was the excellent performance of Jesko Raffin, the newcomer to the Swiss team: “For me, it's not a surprise. Jesko has discovered a new way of working in our structure, he is intelligent, he listens and he has a rather rare ability in this profession, that of changing things in his management when we prove to him that he is winning. He started the adventure quite tense, he passed a milestone during the Jerez tests and even more during the dress rehearsal here in Losail. Jesko is now much more relaxed, he finished each session in the top fifteen, which bodes very well for this weekend.”
What about Iker Lecuona, who was injured two weeks ago in Jerez? “Single fracture of his right clavicle, double fracture – radius, ulna – of his left arm and fracture without displacement of the seventh vertebra, he was operated on successfully by Dr. Mir in Barcelona. He has high morale, he sends messages to the team, but we can guess that knowing that the championship is starting without him must not be very pleasant. The doctors are talking about a six to eight week convalescence, which should make us Jerez. We will see in due time how he is. Above all, nothing should be rushed; In addition, with Julian Simón, we have a very high level replacement driver, a fundamentally nice guy and a very good designer,” concludes Fred Corminboeuf.
They said…
Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten, 1st): “I would first like to apologize to my guys, because I gave them a lot of work again this evening, with this crash in turn No2 during the second practice session. What happened? An unfortunate combination between the wind and too much aggressiveness when braking; exiting turn 1, I was knocked off course by a gust, it was less than a meter away, but I was no longer in the perfect trajectory to brake in such an aggressive manner. I have nothing, but the bike has seriously suffered. That said, it's racing on two wheels, we're here to attack, if I'm not riding as fast we're not progressing. Everyone knows the rules, we accept them. The day ends with this fall, but it was very interesting, and I'm not just saying that because I set the best time. We work like crazy, in a perfect atmosphere: the team spirit here is extraordinary and that's why I'm sad for my technicians, who are going to bed very late tonight."
Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten, 23rd): “The position is not good, the gap compared to the best time is more interesting: 1,1 seconds on such a long track is a solid base. So I am satisfied with this first day. This time we are there, the championship has started! We still worked a lot and I believe that the things we found after the first session are going in the right direction, even if, because the wind was becoming more and more violent, I was not able to confirm this with a timer. good impression during FP2. The last two years I was looking for how to gain a second; now I'm on the hunt for tenths and it's an exciting challenge. The entire team has enormous experience, it relies on countless data. It's a new way of working and I like it. The collaboration with Tom Lüthi? We couldn't dream of a better teammate, since he's right up front. Tom helps me a lot; whenever there is a difficult problem to solve, I ask him what he thinks about it. I am progressing and I hope to confirm it in the coming days with a first good result.”
Losail (Qat). Qatar Moto2 GP, first day of free practice (2 sessions): 1. Lüthi (SWI, Kalex, carXpert Interwetten), 2'00.422 (160.800 km/h); 2. Nakagami (JPN, Kalex), 2'00.502; 3. Oliveira (POR, KTM), 2'00.555; 4. Morbidelli (ITA, Kalex), 2'00.602; 5. A. Marquez (SPA, Kalex), 2'00.648; 6. Bagnaia (ITA, Kalex), 2'00.793; 7. Pasini (ITA, Kalex), 2'00.866; 8. Quartararo (FRA, Kalex), 2'00.880; 9. A. Pons (SPA, Kalex, 2'00.907; 10. Marini (ITA, Kalex), 2'00.922. Then: 18. Aegerter (SWI, Suter), 2'01.381; 23. Raffin (SWI, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), 2'01.533; 26. Simón (SPA, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), 2'01.903. 34 classified.
