WSBK Phillip Island J1, Dominique Aegerter (Yamaha/13): "I was able to overtake Rea on the outside while braking in turn 10, it was a strong moment"

On the evening of this round of observation of the first day of the WSBK season which opened at Phillip Island, a very clever person is the one who can determine which cards fell to the protagonists in Australia. Two favorites were forgotten, the World Champion held his place and amidst some nice surprises emerged. For his part, Dominique Aegerter seems to be one of those who hid their assets, which did not prevent him from experiencing a great moment of satisfaction...

Dominique Aegerter finished 13th this sunny Friday in Australia, on a track of Phillip Island which promises to offer other weather conditions for the next two days. And it is precisely at this moment that we will undoubtedly be able to truly assess the forces present.

The Swiss, who is the double world champion in WSS for the last two years, analyzed this situation: “ Monday and Tuesday the wind blew from the sea, it was cool. Today it was 10 degrees warmer because the wind was coming from inland. We still need to tune the bike based on that. But at the weekend, it is likely that the tide will turn again ».

**Dominique Aegerter: “ on paper the result seems a little worse than it really is«**

The satellite team driver Yamaha therefore worked on his racing configuration: “ we worked hard and well both in the morning and in the afternoon. I've noticed that a quick spin isn't really good for determining where you are. What matters is consistency. The most important thing is the race distance, and we were very good in the afternoon ».

With this work plan, the team member Remy Gardner, eleventh, finished this Friday at 13^e rank, losing just under 1,1 on the combined timesheets FP1 et FP2 against the world champion Álvaro Bautista from the factory team Ducati. “ On paper, the result looks a little worse than it really is » specifies the pilot of 32 years on speedweek.

But he still experienced a great moment of satisfaction: “ FP2 was awesome. I had consistent times and was able to overtake Rea on the outside when braking into turn 10. It was a highlight ". The pilot Kawasaki will no doubt be keen to return the favor before Sunday evening…