What a day on the Mugello circuit: the Moto2 race was stopped for the first time with a red flag on the fourth lap, following a fall by the Spaniard Xavi Virginie (his bike caused one of the protective airbags to explode). Starting from the third row of the starting grid, Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) was in the lead at the time of the interruption, after another extraordinary start.
A new start was going to be given after much discussion, for a race shortened to ten laps; several drivers – including world championship leader Alex Rins – were penalized for showing up late on the grid. They had to start from the end of the peloton. Not Tom Lüthi – another perfect start -, nor Dominique Aegerter and Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten) respectively, on the first crossing of the line, in sixth and ninth positions! Finally fourth in the race, Lüthi retains his third place in the world, while Aegerter (10th in this Italian GP) regains fifth place overall. Summary of this hot day with the boss, Frédéric Corminboeuf: “Tom was very present throughout the weekend, even if there is a slight taste of unfinished business, because we were hoping for the podium. It's another solid performance, he remains in contact with the world leader and he proved once again that he had perfectly digested the problems he was still experiencing in recent years at the start and in the first meters of the race. Dominique gained a place in the championship, that's good to take and he has progressed with each of his outings, even if we still have to work so that he finds better sensations with his bike. Robin had a fantastic start, he was even in ninth position, he held the pace for a few laps before breaking up when his tires lost their effectiveness. Too bad, because he had a great shot to play today. »
They said…
Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten, 4rd): “When events like today happen, with a race stopped quickly, then a second delayed start, you have to stay perfectly focused. This is also part of our job. Already on Saturday, I had explained that the key to the race would be at the start, I succeeded perfectly, both the first and the second time. Alas, for the second race, the one that was going to count, I didn't want to change anything about my tire choice, but I no longer had available a new rubber of the type that suited me perfectly. So I left with the tire used before the interruption and with three laps to go, I lost a lot of traction. That's when Lowes came back on me for third place and Zarco and Baldassari pulled away. In the last corner, I did everything to be close to Lowes, to benefit from his aspiration, but my traction deficit was prohibitive and I failed by a tenth of the Briton. I remain third in the championship, the gap with the leader has reduced by two points, we must continue at this level and find the little things that I missed from the first tests, here, to be right in front. »
Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten, 10th): “I improved my position in the world championship, that’s one of the positive sides of the day. That said, especially during the second race, with the harder tire, I started to feel good sensations, even if the feeling with my bike is by far not perfect yet. In the peloton, it was hot, I unfortunately lost contact with the leading group when we touched with Axel Pons. Then Rins, Morbidelli and Nakagami returned. The result is not fantastic but, at times, I found the pleasure of driving again. Thanks to the team, we tried a lot of things and we will continue to do so from Monday, during a testing day. »
Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten, 21st): “If only I had been the king of the last round, rather than the first!” I already got off to a good start in the first race, but unfortunately a small gap with Dominique's group quickly opened up. For the second race, I chose the harder tire, I was ninth in the first lap, I set my best race time only 9 tenths off the reference time today (Tom Lüthi), but when the grip disappeared, I made several mistakes. A first competitor passed me, then a second, and my last three laps were catastrophic. We will now try to understand what happened. »
