04/11/2022

"Exploiting potential" on the final weekend

The LIQUI MOLY Intact GP duo finished the opening day at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo just outside Valencia with noticeable potential under their saddles and so Jeremy Alcoba and Marcel Schrötter will go into the final qualifying day of the season as motivated as ever from P18 and P20 respectively.

For local hero Jeremy Alcoba, it is always something special to roll out of the pit lane in front of his home crowd. His initial nervousness quickly gave way as he focused on tackling the four-kilometer track, which he knows like the back of his hand from his junior and Moto3 days, in a way that made him feel comfortable on his Kalex machine in the windy conditions, especially in the morning. Despite steady improvements and P18, the 20-year-old is convinced that there is more to come in FP3 on Saturday before the final qualifying sessions of the season decide the grid for the final showdown on Sunday.

Marcel Schrötter's feeling on his bike was by no means bad on day one in Valencia, but in the end, he ran out of time after a late tyre change to be able to fully exploit its potential. Especially as he didn't catch the ideal group to achieve an increase his laptime in the slipstream on the comparatively narrow Valencian track, which is popular with fans and riders alike for its stadium character. His 1'36.153 put the German, who makes his final appearance in the Moto2 World Championship this weekend, 1.205 seconds behind the day's fastest Pedro Acosta and just over four tenths off the top eight - a target the 29-year-old will be aiming for in FP3 to directly qualify for Q2.

Results

FP1
1. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'34.979
2. Pedro ACOSTA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.206 (+0.227)
3. Cameron BEAUBIER/ USA/ KALEX – 1'35.811 (+0.832)
4. Jake DIXON/ GBR/ KALEX – 1'36.055 (+1.076)
5. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALX – 1'36.090 (+ 1.111)
15. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'36.518 (+1.539)
25. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'37.533 (+2.554)

FP2
1. Pedro ACOSTA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'34.948
2. Augusto FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'35.069 (+0.121)
3. Alonso LOPEZ/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – 1'35.128 (+0.180)
4. Jake DIXON/ GBR/ KALEX – 1'35.554 (+0.606)
5. Somkiat CHANTRA/ THA/ KALEX – 1'35.571 (+0.623)
18. Jeremy ALCOBA/ SPA/ KALEX – 1'36.105 (+1.157)
20. Marcel SCHRÖTTER/ GER/ KALEX – 1'36.153 (+1.205)

Marcel Schrötter

P20 - 1'36.153 (+1.205)

"It was certainly not the best start to the weekend, even if it felt better in the morning. We were on the track longer than the others with the harder tyre, but then I noticed that nothing more was possible and many improved their times. Unfortunately, I only had one lap left, which was much faster, but of course, it is difficult to get the full potential out of one lap. I think with more time I could have finished higher than P15.
In FP2 I was not in an ideal group of riders at the beginning, when I still had good tyre conditions. I was able to improve immediately, but unfortunately, I got held up on my fast laps in sectors two and three, so I was never able to use my full potential. When the tyre started to degrade, it became impossible to improve the times again. I concentrated on the second set of tyres, but with them, it didn't work so well. I was braking late in every second corner because the bike wasn't braking enough and now we have to see what role the tyre played in that. Unfortunately, I had no grip at all on the rear wheel, which is why I came into the pits one more time. We didn't have much of a chance to change anything at that point. I am not satisfied, so now we will analyze what caused the problems. I don't feel comfortable in some corners of the track and we should try to fix that. We have more potential and also the gap to the top 8 is just over four-tenths. I hope we can find something that I feel more comfortable with and then I think more is possible."

Jeremy Alcoba

P18 - 1'36.105 (+1.157)

"In the first Free Practice, I was a bit nervous. It's always like this when we ride at a Spanish track although here I have a lot of references from the Moto3 bike. But at the same time, it makes it a bit tricky to reset my mind in order to approach it in a way that works for the Moto2 bike. After some laps, I managed to improve steadily but the wind was super strong which made it even more difficult. In the last run of FP1, we didn't use the softer option that all the others rode to improve their times. Maybe our position wasn't great but the feeling was there. In FP2 we were on the soft compound throughout the entire session and the feeling was once again quite good, we improved a lot. With each lap, the feeling got better and I even managed to set my fastest time alone without any slipstream. It was good for the pace because I think we will be able to attack more tomorrow. In our very last run, we hoped to further improve but sadly we had an issue with our suspension so we will have to investigate what happened. Still, the feeling is good and I am looking forward to getting back to work again tomorrow."

Pictures – Grand Prix of Valencia

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