Schrötter & Alcoba set for qualifying attack on Saturday at Assen
The conditions on the opening day at the TT Circuit Assen could not have been more different. A rainy FP1 was later followed by a dry second session that saw the two LIQUI MOLY Intact GP riders finish seventeenth and twenty-first in the combined standings.
Results don't always reflect how things really went, how the feeling and confidence improved lap by lap. This was the case today for Marcel Schrötter, who, after an initially successful start to the rainy morning, lost positions but not confidence due to some risky time management. The German decided to change tyres late in the session, which did not leave him enough time to build up the feeling for the fresh rubber. In the dry FP2 in the afternoon, there was then only little grip on the track and small adjustments were also necessary, which will have to be worked on further in FP3 on Saturday morning so that he can launch a targeted Q2 attack.
Jeremy Alcoba, for his part, is extremely satisfied with how his Friday went, because unlike in previous weeks, the Moto2 rookie started the weekend in Assen with a good feeling. The 4.7 km TT circuit seems to suit the 20-year-old, so Alcoba goes into the last qualifying session before the summer break with a lot of self-confidence. For Saturday, rain is currently not expected, which is why the Spaniard hopes that the grip level will increase again in the morning and that he can thus minimise the current deficit of 1.168s from P21.
What can the two riders of the LIQUI MOLY Intact GP team pull out of their sleeves on Saturday when FP3 starts at 10:55 am (CEST)?
Results
FP1
1. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'46.877
2. Fermín ALDEGUER/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'46.962 (+0.085)
3. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'47.052 (+0.175)
4. Somkiat CHANTRA/ THA/ KALEX – 1'47.081 (+0.204)
5. Tony ARBOLINO/ UTA/ KALEX – 1'47.123 (+0.246)
14. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'48.089 (+1.212)
16. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'48.179 (+1.302)
FP2
1. Joe ROBERTS/ USA/ KALEX – 1'37.393
2. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'37.529 (+0.136)
3. Albert ARENAS/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'37.569 (+0.176)
4. Ai Ogura/ JAP/ KALEX – 1'37.710 (+0.317)
5. Fermín ALDEGUER/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'37.840 (+0.447)
17. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'38.401 (+1.008)
21. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'38.561 (+1.168)
