Schrötter delivers promising P7 start to the Catalunya GP, Alcoba 25
The blisteringly hot temperatures on Friday at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya were already shaping the results for the LIQUI MOLY Intact GP team around Marcel Schrötter and local hero Jeremy Alcoba, who finished the opening day in P7 and P25 in the combined standings.
The morning, which at 28°C could still be considered cooler, made the work on the 4.7 km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya much more pleasant than in the afternoon when the track temperatures rose to as high as 54°C.
Marcel Schrötter's start to the ninth Grand Prix of the season, however, made quite an impression. With 293.4 km/h he was the third fastest of the TopSpeed ranking and thanks to his 1'44.745 he secured seventh place with only 0.295s behind the overall leader Aron Canet. The times of FP1 were only beaten by a few in the afternoon, which is why the combined classification did not change much after the second session. The 29-year-old is hoping for a little more stability on his bike, but the real focus of the qualifying-plagued veteran is to make it into Q2 in FP3 so that he can complete it without any unnecessary pressure to secure a strong starting position for Sunday's race.
Local hero Jeremy Alcoba faced familiar difficulties on his home track this Friday, as the track near Barcelona is not particularly known for its high grip level. Something the Moto2 rookie also felt when he only finished 25th overall with a personal best of 1'46.198. On Saturday, he hopes to be able to make up for the small disadvantage he sees compared to those who completed a test here only a few weeks ago. However, the 20-year-old does not want to concentrate too much on possible advantages or disadvantages, because for him it is important to collect as much useful data as possible in FP3 for the qualifying, which will be held under the Catalan sun from 15:10 (CEST).
FP1
1. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'44.450
2. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'44.474 (+0.024)
3. Jake DIXON/ GBR/ KALEX – 1'44.529 (+0.079)
4. Sam LOWES/ GBR/ KALEX – 1'44.575 (+0.125)
5. Bo BENDSNEYDER/ NED/ KALEX – 1'44.732 (+0.282)
6. Albert ARENAS/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'44.741 (+0.291)
7. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'44.745 (+0.295)
24. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'46.209 (+1.759)
Full results
FP2
1. Joe ROBERTS/ USA/ KALEX – 1'44.752
2. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'44.861 (+0.109)
3. Pedro ACOSTA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'44.937 (+0.185)
4. Lorenzo DALLA PORTA/ ITA/ KALEX – 1'45.010 (+0.258)
5. Alonso LOPEZ/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'45.087 (+0.335)
11. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'45.257 (+0.505)
22. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'46.198 (+1.446)
