Friday – Changeable conditions at Most WorldSBK round

Day 1 affected by the weather in Most, place of the WorldSBK Round 08. Rain in the morning, which made for a wet session, shy sunshine in the afternoon which allowed all the protagonists to test tyres and race pace for tomorrow. All the protagonists are really close, looking for a thrilling Saturday.

FP 1 got underway in wet conditions, all the riders took to the track with Rain tyres. The weather for this weekend shows a lot of uncertainty, so it’s important to gather all the information for the rest of the weekend. Philipp has remained constantly in the top ten since the beginning of the session, gradually increasing his confidence with the asphalt, then the track started to dry really quickly, so much so that the last ten minutes it was possible to ride on slicks. Even in the dry, the German rider was able to keep a good pace, reaching the final seventh position. Still “slow” times due to wet patches, but a result that certifies a good feeling for the Go Eleven rider in “mixed” conditions.

Free Practice 1: 
P 1   S. Redding   1.33.926
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.644
P 3   A. Lowes    + 0.743
…
P 7   P. Oettl   + 2.216

For FP 2 the conditions remained stable and almost perfect for testing both the new rear solutions brought here by Pirelli, harder than in all the other races of the season so far, and the race pace. Oettl showed good consistency in the first outing, completing his fastest lap with really used tyres, then in the final minutes he missed a clean lap that would allow him to improve a few tenths. P 15, three / four tenths from the Top 8, an ideal time much faster than the time set in the standings, but when the gaps are so close each session you can take and lose several positions. Today Go Eleven also carried out the first track test of the updated exhaust, which provided excellent performance.

Free Practice 2:  
P 1    T. Razgatlioglu    1.32.367
P 2    R. Gardner   + 0.012
P 3    D. Petrucci     + 0.104
…
P 15   P. Oettl   + 0.976

Philipp Oettl (Rider):

“Interesting day today, we faced changeable conditions, I am quite ok with the riding, i understand how I should ride my Ducati on this track. Mainly we focused on the race pace, it’s not too bad, but we have to wait tomorrow to get in touch with the others work. There is lot of German here, I am happy to ride in front of them, tomorrow I will give my best to fight for important places. The only thing which is missing is one fast lap, during the night we change a bit the set-up and I am optimistic we can find a good solution!”

Saturday – 2 crashes in Superpole and wrong tyre choice for Race One

This Saturday is truly one to forget, to file quickly and move on. Even if the day seemed to start in the best possible way, with a super performance in FP3, the mistakes accumulated between qualifying and the race. Double crash in Superpole, thus starting last with no valid time, and wrong choice on the grid for Race 1, when he opted for the front Rain, worried about the water that fell just before the start.

FP 3 was perhaps the best session from Australia till now; always competitive with the race tyre, an incredible speed especially in the last sector, so much so that he earned fifth position by breaking down the wall of 32.0. Constant, consistent and fast, everything bring team to think for the best from a Superpole perspective, and above all the race pace. With used tyre, the fastest lap came on lap 20.

Free Practice 3: 
P 1   G. Gerloff   1.31.689
P 2   S. Redding   + 0.007
P 3   T. Razgatlioglu    + 0.073
…
P 5   P. Oettl   + 0.268

In Superpole too much will to find a good position played a bad joke; crash on the first lap like at Imola, miracle of the guys in the garage to put Philipp back on track in a few minutes, about six since he returned to the garage. Second crash and game over; no valid time and last grid position. A mistake that is difficult to accept, given the importance of qualifying in today’s Superbike, especially at Most where overtaking is not easy to do. All the work of the technical staff should be underlined, who for the second race in a row found themselves having to intervene during a session full of tension and always managed to get the rider back on track.

Superpole:  
P 1    T. Razgatlioglu    1.30.801
P 2    D. Petrucci   + 0.460
P 3    R. Gardner     + 0.618
…
NQ   P. Oettl   No time set

During the Race 1 grid, the rain over the Most track intimidated the riders and workers; as always in these cases instinct counts more than reason. Philipp chooses a “safe” solution starting with the Rain in front and the intermediate on the rear. A half and a half choice that usually doesn’t pay off. And in fact, after a few good laps, recovering last, twenty-fourth to ninth, the track dries up and the completely intermediate solution adopted by many riders proves to be the right one. Philipp fights, but slips close to the points, surprisingly deciding to retire two laps from the end. That’s a pity because he could have taken a point. Unfortunately, the pit stop to change tyres would have been useless due to the excessive gap accumulated in the first laps. The races, however, must always be completed, unless there are mechanical or physical problems!

Race 1:  
P 1    J. Rea    36’10.894
P 2    T. Razgatlioglu    + 4.007
P 3    D. Petrucci   + 7.939
…
DNF   P. Oettl 

A convincing redemption will be needed on Most’s Sunday. We start last but the race pace is good and the minimum goal will be to fight in the points zone! We update tomorrow!

Philipp Oettl (Rider):

“Not so much to say about today, this morning we were fast, then in Superpole I made two mistakes. I had to start last, but on the grid I choose the wrong tyres and I couldn’t do anything in Race. Rain tyre in the front was a disaster and it didn’t make sense to finish the race. There is not a lot to say, I am really disappointed, the team deserve a good result and I know I have the potential to achieve it, but today it’s just a day to forget!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“Today started well and in qualifying too much eagerness to take a good position on the grid led to a mistake, with two crashes and this placed us last, without a valid time. The choice of tyre on the starting grid it was a bet, we could have gambled or not, but I’m not happy with the decision to go back to the box two laps from the end, races should always come to the end when possible!”

Sunday – A strong comeback in Race Two from P24 to P13

Race 2 slightly straightened out a difficult weekend, further complicated by the confusion in turn two of the Superpole Race, which saw the Go Eleven rider crash. Three points at the end of the weekend, a pity about the drop in the closing laps, when the Top Ten was within reach.

As throughout the weekend, the Czech weather did not disappoint on Sunday too and the day began with a wet Warm Up. All with Rain tyres, Go Eleven first tests a hard tiye solution, valid with little water on the track, but the grip turns out to be almost zero. Rear compound change, clear improvement in just a few laps, so much so that he is positioned close to the top ten.

Warm Up: 
P 1   A. Bassani   1.45.402
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.660
P 3   A. Lowes    + 1.091
…
P 12   P. Oettl   + 3.679

About the Superpole Race… not much to say. At the second corner of the first lap, a rider in front crashes and among the chaos generated, Philipp finds himself on the ground. Crash at low speed, he was able to rejoin without too much damage, finishing the race in last position, but with good pace. In any case, it is essential to complete a few laps in the dry to understand the bike’s performance and competitiveness in view of Race 2. Starting last, the probability of finding yourself in the middle of contacts is much higher, and unfortunately the sprint race showed it.

Superpole Race:  
P 1    T. Razgatlioglu    15’22.383
P 2    J. Rea    + 1.203
P 3    A. Bautista    + 2.968
…
P 21   P. Oettl   + 2 Laps

Race 2 was the only positive note of a bitter weekend. Starting last, in twenty-fourth position, Philipp was the author of an excellent start with which he recovered six positions. From there he started to fight with Van der Mark, overtaking him in turn one, then with Lowes showing a good race pace in line with the group led by Baz, in ninth. The last five, six laps were missing, in which the time got up and the German rider was unable to fully rejoin the front group. However, twelve positions conquered are a lot, he showed himself to be combative and grit in hand-to-hand fight. The gap from the leader is small, a pity about the start from the last position.

Race 2:  
P 1    A. Bautista    33’58.248
P 2    D. Petrucci   + 4.652
P 3    J. Rea   + 4.675
…
P 13   P. Oettl   + 23.138

It’s useless to hide the regret, here in Most there was no turning point after Imola and the Go Eleven Team didn’t get what they hoped for. Speed was not lacking, but qualifying penalized the whole weekend and today in the race it was difficult to expect anything better. Thus, WorldSBK enters its summer break, which lasts over a month, before meeting again in Magny – Cours, on the second weekend of September. Recharge batteries, organize the work in a good way, because then there will be four races, two of which in rows and two with a weekend break in between.

World Superbike goes on holiday, but the work of a team never stops!

Philipp Oettl (Rider):

“Mixed emotions today, in Superpole race we had another crash, but I couldn’t do much more to avoid it, it was in the second corner. Main Race wasn’t too bad, coming back from last to P 13 it’s quite ok. We took three points, but we expected more after FP3. From that session on everything went in the wrong direction. After the summer break we can restart in a better way, to finish the season in a good way!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):

“This morning luck had no regard for us. At the first corner we were involved in the crash and Philipp couldn’t do anything to avoid it. Today’s race was conditioned by yesterday’s qualifying. with the level we have and the times so similar between the riders it was very difficult to get to the Top 10. Now let’s take a little rest, recharge the batteries and see you in September more determined than before! There are still four races left and we can take some nice result!”