Tricky Misano opener
When the Friday sessions for the 14th race weekend of 2022 started in the morning, both LIQUI MOLY Intact GP riders, Marcel Schrötter and Jeremy Alcoba, were lacking confidence, ending the first day at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in P17 and P23 in the combined standings.
Marcel Schrötter certainly expected more than a 17th place overall from the first two sessions of the San Marino Grand Prix, but the German struggled to build confidence in his Kalex machine right from the beginning. His gap to the fastest rider of the day, Celestino Vietti, was still 1.331s in FP1, while the gap to the top was almost halved in the second free practice. After missing 0.695 seconds in P15 in FP2, the focus of the 29-year-old and his well-rehearsed crew is now on intensive data analysis and the effort to make it into Qualifying 2 in FP3.
However, even the youngster in the LIQUI MOLY Intact GP team found it difficult to find his rhythm in pleasant 25°C weather. The lack of confidence in the front tyre and a crash made it all the more difficult for Jeremy Alcoba to lap the demanding 4.2 km Misano World Circuit in perfect style. Recently, the 20-year-old had always had a good feeling, but the initial perplexity in FP1 was followed by the first turnaround in the second session of the day. The young Spaniard finally regained confidence and with P21, reduced his gap to the top to 1.367s. He is sure that a lot is still possible on Saturday as soon as his team and he have thoroughly scrutinized the opening day.
Currently, the signs are pointing to Qualifying 1 for both riders of the German racing team, especially as the weather could play an important role on Saturday. But there is not much separating the ambitious Moto2 riders from a possible Q2 entry, which starts at 15:35 and decides what the starting grid will look like on Sunday in Misano.
Results
FP1
1. Celestino VIETTI/ ITA/ KALEX – 1'36.573
2. Mattia PASINI/ ITA/ KALEX – 1'36.668 (+0.095)
3. Jake DIXON/ GBR/ KALEX – 1'36.716 (+0.143)
4. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'36.778 (+0.205)
5. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'36.817 (+0.244)
20. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'37.904 (+1.331)
28. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'38.605 (+2.032)
FP2
1. Alonso LOPEZ/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'36.597
2. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'36.670 (+0.073)
3. Jake DIXON/ GBR/ KALEX – 1'36.692 (+0.095)
4. Albert ARENAS/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'36.802 (+0.205)
5. Somkiat CHANTRA/ THA/ KALEX – 1'36.848 (+0.251)
15. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'37.292 (+0.695)
21. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'37.964 (+1.367)
