14/10/2022

"Important steps" on the first day at Phillip Island

On a windy first day, LIQUI MOLY Intact GP rider Marcel Schrötter managed to take an important step towards Q2 with P12, but teammate Jeremy Alcoba is also in positive spirits for qualifying Saturday after his first laps on the Australian track, where he hopes to improve his sixteenth place in FP3.

With no rain at all in the afternoon, the Moto2™ field was able to get straight down to business in FP2. Marcel Schrötter, for example, continued to improve with each lap of the 4.4 km track to finish in a solid twelfth place, after ending the morning's FP1 in P15 in still slightly difficult conditions. The German praised the noticeable progress and hopes to maintain his position in Q2 beyond FP3 to work out a good starting position from 06:10 (CET).

Jeremy Alcoba had his first taste of the picturesque island circuit this Friday, and although a slip at the end of FP1 left him with a muddy bike, the youngster goes into the second day of practice with plenty of new knowledge. He is hoping for dry conditions to get the most out of his Kalex. With 18th place in the combined times, the chances are good for the Spaniard to move straight into Q2 alongside his team-mate and fight for the front rows of the grid.

This a goal that both riders of the German racing team are pursuing not without reason because the 25-lap race will be long and exhausting, all the more important to avoid the battles at the start when the lights go out for the 18th race of the season on Sunday at 03:20 (CET).

Results

FP1
1. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'34.704
2. Filip SALAC/ CZE/ KALEX – 1'34.778 (+0.074)
3. Jake DIXON/ GBR/ KALEX – 1'34.840 (+0.136)
4. Somkiat CHANTRA/ THA/ KALEX – 1'34.970 (+0.266)
5. Tony ARBOLINO/ ITA/ KALEX – 1'35.001 (+0.297)
13. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.531 (+0.827)
15. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'35.799 (+1.095)

FP2
1. Jake DIXON/ GBR/ KALEX – 1'33.767
2. Fermin ALDEGUER/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'34.149 (+0.382)
3. Alonso LOPEZ/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'34.228 (+0.461)
4. Joe ROBERTS/ USA/ KALEX – 1'34.508 (+0.741)
5. Sam LOWES/ GBR/ KALEX – 1'34.544 (+0.777)
12. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'34.929 (+1.162)
16. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.115 (+1.348)

Marcel Schrötter

P12 (combined) – 1'34.929 (+1.162)

"The conditions today were quite typical for Phillip Island: fresh, windy, and a bit wet, but I think Moto2 was relatively lucky. In both FP1 and FP2, apart from a few wet patches, it was quite dry and only half as bad as in the other classes. In the second session of the day, only the strong wind was detrimental. Overall, it didn't go too badly for us. In FP1 we stayed on the harder tyre in the morning because it started to drizzle from time to time, especially towards the end of the session. Even this afternoon I had some good sectors, but the laps were just hindered again and again by yellow flags. There were numerous crashes and I also made mistakes in the wind, so there were a lot of laps that had a lot of potential but ultimately didn't result in worthwhile lap times. Nevertheless, I managed to set reasonably good lap times. Twelfth place on a Friday is certainly not where we see ourselves, but we have made important steps and the signs are good. Tomorrow we have to bring all this together. We still have to improve a few things, of course, but we also have to see what the weather has in store. We want to be as prepared as possible, that's clear, but it was also important for us to be in the provisional Top 14 because nobody knows what tomorrow morning will be like. We've done part of the job and now we'll see if we can do better tomorrow."

Jeremy Alcoba

P18 (combined) – 1'35.115 (+1.348)

"Today was my first day riding here in Phillip Island and it was quite nice but other than most riders, I wouldn't call it one of the most beautiful tracks because of the weather. Today was still special. I enjoyed it a lot and in the second exit of the"FP2 I rode 14 laps. I kept improving my time with each round and in fact, my last lap turned out to be my best time of the day. I am happy with today's work even though I made a little mistake in the last lap of the FP1. I am still quite happy with myself and the bike, I feel quite comfortable so I hope it won't rain tomorrow, especially because we saved a certain tyre for tomorrow. Let's see what we can do on Saturday but for now, I'd like to thank my mechanics for putting my bike back together after the slip in FP1, although it was more dirty than damaged but it was still a lot of work to fix it before FP2 so major thanks to them."

Pictures – Grand Prix of Australia

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