21/10/2022

Schrötter & Alcoba overcome heat and rain in Sepang with provisional Q2 places

The 5.5km Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia surprised the Moto2 field after just a few minutes in FP2 with unexpectedly early rain, which at times became so heavy that the session had to be red-flagged. The two LIQUI MOLY Intact GP riders drew a positive first conclusion from the penultimate race weekend of the season thanks to P6 and P13 in the combined standings.

Marcel Schrötter managed to grab the last provisional Q2 place in FP1 on used tyres, not suspecting that his first and only full lap in FP2 would be enough to put him second in the session before the rain and catapult him from P14 to P6 in the combined standings. The German wants to use the remaining time before the FP3 to analyse the data so as not to leave any air on his entry into Q2, of which the 29-year-old hopes a lot.
As a great veteran of the class, he did not go out for another stint after the restart of the FP2 session, knowing that the times would not be faster than before after the heavy downpour.

For his younger rookie colleague Jeremy Alcoba, on the other hand, it was enormously important to get going again even in the adverse conditions and to make full use of the remaining 22 minutes to get to know the track better, on which the 20-year-old was riding for the first time this Friday. Despite a lack of rear wheel feel, the youngster is pleased with the progress and his current Q2 ticket.

This brings to an end an eventful first day at the circuit just outside Kuala Lumpur. Can the two teammates consolidate their direct Q2 entry in FP3 and fight for the front grid positions on Saturday afternoon? The answer will be revealed at the latest with the start of Q2 at 07:55 (CET).

RESULTS

FP1
1. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 2'06.816
2. Pedro ACOSTA/ SPA/ KALEX – 2'07.644 (+0.828)
3. Tony ARBOLINO/ ITA/ KALEX – 2'07.867 (+1.051)
4. Ai OGURA/ JAP/ KALEX – 2'07.938 (+1.122)
5. Albert ARENAS/ SPA/ KALX – 2'08.116 (+1.300)
11. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 2'08.453 (+1.637)
14. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 2'08.668 (+1.852)

FP2
1. Manuel GONZALEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 2'07.879
2. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 2'08.093 (+0.214)
3. Fermín ALDEGUER/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 2'08.304 (+0.425)
4. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 2'08.357 (+0.478)
5. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALEX – 2'08.424 (+ 0.545)
24. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 2'10.659 (+2.780)

Marcel Schrötter

P6 (combined) - 2'08.093 (+0.214)

"Especially in FP2 the conditions were quite special, but this time I was able to use the situation perfectly for me. I don't think anyone expected the rain so early because in the last few days it has always rained around 4 pm local time. I was very surprised when it started to drizzle. Before that, we rode the entire FP1 on one set of tyres, but I couldn't improve any further at the end. I had noticeable grip problems in the heat. That made it a bit more difficult and still I felt like FP1 was quite solid this morning. I did what I had planned quickly, moving up bit by bit and improving lap by lap. The only negative thing about FP1 was that we couldn't improve further than P14 in the end. In FP2 we went out on a new set of tyres, which meant that I was six-tenths quicker on the first lap, while not even being on a perfect lap. I, therefore, believe that probably more could have been done. That one lap proved to be very important to get into the provisional Q2 places. If it is dry on Saturday morning, the times will certainly drop again. But in general, it was an extremely important step and for me, it was good to see that I could improve the times compared to this morning in only one lap and it was even warmer back then! For me, it was a positive first day, but it wasn't a full session because of the rain break. We waited after the restart to see where the times would be and they were quite slow. I think it would not have made sense to risk a crash. We'll look at our data now and study it to understand what we did better and then we'll see that we can start there again tomorrow morning."

Jeremy Alcoba

P13 (combined) - 2'08.453 (+1.637)

"The first feeling and impression of the track here in Sepang is pretty good and nice, but it's also strange because it has some hard breaking points and the track itself is pretty damaged. Despite the conditions, we finished the day happy because I was able to set good times and they even canceled some fast laps when we were on used tyres and when we went out on new ones in FP2, I wasn't able to use the full potential because it was already wet, plus the two guys in front of me were fighting which caused me to lose time. Still, I am happy because we are currently in Q2 and we know many points that we can work on in order to further improve. Although I got to admit that the feeling in the wet didn't feel as good, especially with the rear tyre. We'll check our data but I'd still say it was a positive first day for us."

Pictures – Grand Prix of Malaysia

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