With Franco Morbidelli, Takaaki Nakagami and Xavier Simeon, the Swiss Tom Luthi will be part of the rookie contingent in 2018 in MotoGP. Challenger of the first city in Moto2 this year, the vice-World Champion will find the one who was titled, within a Marc VDS Racing team which will ride with Honda RC213V version 2017. A challenge for the 31-year-old pilot who brings with him his chief engineer Gilles Bigot. But whose debut among the elite was delayed due to a nasty injury.
A fracture which prevented him from defending his chances at the championship until the end. And which upset him for the first tests of the off-season in Valencia and Jerez, since he had to watch from the stands his comrades and future rivals who were logging precious kilometers on the track. As a result, Lüthi was confined to theoretical lessons while the others were engaged in practical work.
« It's difficult in these conditions to evaluate what I was able to learn » recognizes Tom on speedweek. " However, it was very interesting to meet the team, see the people for the first time and observe how they work. It is important. But I only accumulated theoretical knowledge and I talked a lot with Gilles Bigot, my track engineer ».
Thereupon, he specifies that the passage ofAlex Marquez on the Honda was very helpful: “ Takahashi first rode the bike but it was with Alex Márquez that we learned the most. The team was thus able to see the difficulties encountered by a Moto2 rider on a MotoGP. It was hard though not being able to drive. I studied tires and electronics. But nothing beats practice, getting on the bike and really feeling things ».
For the 2018 objectives, he declared: “ It's difficult to set goals when you haven't even gotten on the bike yet. It's too early to set challenges. Nakagami and Morbidelli drove very well this season and I was at their level ". Which gives an idea of where you want to position yourself Lüthi. It will be recalled that the latter has already ridden a MotoGP while doing tests for KTM.
