This is, to date, the greatest performance of the Swiss motorcycle dream team: Sunday, in Assen, for “the” GP of the year, two Swiss will start from the first row of the starting grid in Moto2.
Impressive throughout the weekend – best time on Friday, an impressive pace on Saturday morning during the third free practice session – Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) took pole position, the second of the year , for him, during qualifications played over only a few laps, the rain having intermittently invited itself to the party throughout the day. Tom beat the reigning world champion, the Frenchman Johann Zarco, and his compatriot and teammate Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten), fantastic third in always spectacular style. Needless to say, Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of CGBM Evolution – the structure which aligns the two Swiss teams – was beaming: “We are placing our two top drivers on the front row, it’s a historic moment, which we have been waiting for 18 months. Tom is full of confidence, he was brilliant in each of the free practice sessions, he took pole, he drives fast in all conditions, this is of course very promising. This afternoon, Dominique managed to relax and his will did the rest, in the difficult conditions surrounding him due to his father's health problems. He attacked like we love to see, he lined up the fast laps when he needed to, it was extraordinary. Robin is 22nd, so there is a slight improvement; I expect him, in the race, to show the best of himself, whether it's raining or the track is dry. »
They said…
Thomas Lüthi (Garage Plus Interwetten, 1st) “Pole position is of course important, but what is more important for me is the level I reached this morning during the third free practice session, where my pace was very, very high. On Friday, I still had a big question mark regarding the choice of tires – as long as the track is dry during the race – but now I know the answer. The conditions are very special here in Assen, because the track reacts very quickly to the slightest changes in temperature. I feel ready and I also know that I must now aim for victory, while being aware that consistency in performance remains a very important value in a category like ours. »
Dominique Aegerter (carXpert Interwetten, 3rd) “We have made big progress in setting up the bike since yesterday. In qualifying, I drove half a second faster than this morning, even though the conditions were special. I was the first to hit the track, with rain tires, and I immediately saw that it would transition to slicks without any problems. So I returned to my pit, my team worked very quickly and I had six laps available before the rain returned. The race? We will first have to see the weather conditions, of course. Tom is very fast and I want to defend my place. »
Robin Mulhauser (carXpert Interwetten, 22nd) “I'm just saving the furniture, since I'm not last, like yesterday and this morning. So, I hope to be able to hang in a good group to aim for a ranking in the top 15. What annoys me is that I could have done much better: in one of my laps, I was pushed by Pasini, in the next one, I made a mistake. So, I only had one “clean” round to achieve this time. »
