19/08/2022

Austria kick-off for Schrötter & Alcoba

On the opening day at the Red Bull Ring, the new chicane between Turn 1 and Turn 3 had to be inspected. The German-Spanish rider pairing of Marcel Schrötter and Jeremy Alcoba eventually finished the first free practice sessions in 16th and 21st place.

Even if the new chicane could not yet conquer the heart of Marcel Schrötter, the Bavarian finished the Friday morning in a solid 10th place. In the second dry session of the day, the times became a little faster, but the 29-year-old did not yet get an optimal feeling. So, tomorrow, in FP3, he will try to make up for his 16th place and his 0.932s gap to the current leader, Thai Somkiat Chantra, and still secure a direct entry into Q2.

Meanwhile, more positive tones can be heard on the part of rookie Jeremy Alcoba, because, contrary to expectations after his difficult Moto3 appearance in 2021, the youngster feels more comfortable on his Moto2 Kalex machine. Even though he didn't make it directly into Q2 on Saturday afternoon with an overall position of 21st, he used the first two free practices, just like his teammate, to test the different tyre options to their limit. With his strong pace, the knowledge he has gained so far, and a good shot of motivation, the 20-year-old heads into qualifying day still reckoning he has a fair chance of a direct Q2 entry, as the grid is only 1.244s apart from P1 to Alcoba's P21.

Will the forecast rainy weather tip the scales on Saturday when FP3 at 10:55 offers the last chance to turn the Q2 tables?

Results

FP1
1. Jake DIXON/ GBR/ KALEX – 1'35.000
2. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.161 (+0.161)
3. Lorenzo DALLA PORTA/ ITA/ KALEX – 1'35.186 (+0.186)
4. Albert ARENAS/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.352 (+0.352)
5. Somkiat CHANTRA/ THA/ KALEX – 1'35.387 (+0.387)
10. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'35.572 (+0.572)
20. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'36.113 (+1.113)

FP2
1. Somkiat CHANTRA/ THA/ KALEX – 1'34.353
2. Ai OGURA/ JAP/ KALEX – 1'34.408 (+0.055)
3. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'34.664 (+0.311)
4. Tony ARBOLINO/ ITA/ KALEX – 1'34.707 (+0.354)
5. Alonso LOPEZ/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'34.898 (+0.545)
16. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'35.285 (+0.932)
21. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.597 (+1.244)

Marcel Schrötter

P16 - 1'35.285 (+0.932)

"I can't necessarily speak of a positive change in terms of the fun factor of the new chicane, because racing straight ahead is more fun. That was simply the character of the track and the chicane, unfortunately, destroys that, but I don't want to speak too negatively about it, because after all, the conversion was about the safety factor and it was certainly an important step for that.

This morning we had a good start to the first practice session, we rode the session on one tyre solely and not on a new one, with which you can make up one or two tenths. But that doesn't matter because the weather stayed well and the second practice was faster either way. Unfortunately, FP2 didn't go well. In the first exit, I chose a hard rear tyre to have a comparison. We did quite well with that, although most of the field was already on the soft tyre at that point. My change to the softer tyre led to a minimal improvement, but I felt uncomfortable on the bike. I can't ride the way I would like to and that's obviously annoying because we had such a good run recently. Something is not working the way I want it to at the moment. It doesn't feel good and so we have to try to solve the problem for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a new day and we want to do better after analyzing the data."

Jeremy Alcoba

P21 - 1'35.597 (+1.244)

"I actually arrived with low expectations when coming to this track because last year, in Moto3, I struggled too much but this morning I did many laps because I really did enjoy riding here. I was improving with every lap. I finished off this first day really happy because I think we did a pretty decent job. We rode many times in order to understand the soft and the hard tyre as much as possible. In the last run, I used the softer one because I wanted to understand it more and try to find some more grip. Sadly, there was a communication error in my garage and so I ended up on track with the wrong front tyre which felt strange but with every lap, I actually felt better and in the end, I am actually happy with the softer front, when normally we would have gone for the hard one. Let's see what we can do tomorrow. Our pace is good and I know that the fast guys just set a fast lap whereas I know that I can take some more risks at certain braking points. If tomorrow we can put everything together, take some more risks and maybe catch a slipstream, we can fight for the Q2. Either way, we will work hard and then we'll see what is possible on Saturday."

Pictures – Austrian Grand Prix

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