Day one – Just a couple of tenths off the fastest lap

A Friday characterized by good weather and rather mild temperatures, around 18 ° C, has just ended in Assen! The Superbike riders had the opportunity to become familiar with the asphalt, to adapt the set-ups to the historic Dutch track, very different from Aragon, where the first Round took place, and almost unique in its layout.

Philipp Oettl took advantage of FP 1, which took place in the morning in cold asphalt conditions, to take the references along the track, as it was the first time riding a 1000 cc here in the Cathedral of Speed. With SC0 compound, the hardest tyre, he completed over 20 laps, making his Best Lap on the last available one, demonstrating great consistency and solidity, even in poor grip conditions. Towards the end of the session, many opponents have already used a soft tyre, significantly lowering the references.

Free Practices 1:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 1.34.466
P 2 I. Lecuona +0.418
P 3 A. Bautista +0.780
…
P 14 P. Oettl +2.273

The FP 2 started with much milder temperatures, the asphalt around 30 ° C, warmed by a warm sun. Team Go Eleven opted to use two SCX tyres, also doing a race simulation with the first tyres. The German rider took to the track aggressively, significantly improving the time of the morning and entering the top ten positions. Then, just as he was making an excellent time, a red flag caused by the crash of another rider forced him to abort the lap. Back on track he was able to lower again, despite complaining of movements on the rear. A short stop in the pits, just enough time to change tyres and some changes on the rear shock, and the FP2 has come to life; Philipp went out on the track charged and motivated to attack the time, but a too aggressive riding style penalized him, making him lose the first two laps with small mistakes. When he was able to calm down, he set his pace on 35.7, repeating it several times, thus showing a good potential looking for the race, finishing twelfth, two tenths from the Top 8. Too bad for not having fully exploited the potential, as there were at least two or three tenths of a margin, but today the position is not essential.

Free Practice 2
P 1 A. Bautista 1.34.382
P 2 J. Rea + 0.298
P 3 A. Lowes + 0.390
…
P 12 P. Oettl + 1.341

For tomorrow’s day it will be necessary to improve a little more to limit the movement of the bike, especially during the race. In Qualifying it will be essential to put everything together and make as few mistakes as possible; a very short ranking is expected, in which a few cents could cost the grid row.

Philipp Oettl (Rider):
“I think it was a positive day! We improved a lot from FP 1 to FP 2, but it’s such a difficult track for a 1000cc bike! Today we did a good job, our paces is quite strong, we could have done a bit better on the fastest lap, but it was not the main goal of today. Now we keep working and we compare the data, to understand where we miss a little bit, and then we will get back ready for tomorrow!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):
“I’m happy with this first day here in Assen! In my opinion we did an excellent job, both with used and new tyres, the race pace seems to be good for fighting in the Top Ten. Today we also did some set-up tests, working mainly at the rear, better understanding the direction to take for tomorrow. The position, however, is not bad for a rookie here, let’s see what awaits us tomorrow!”

Day two – Finishes Race One in P7!

Super performance for Philipp on Saturday in Assen! After a qualifying that left a bit of disappointment due to a mistake in the last corner, when the split times threw him into the second row, the German rider was able to refocus before Race 1, then showing an incredible pace, which gave him the seventh final position!
In FP 3 Oettl started the session with used tyre, to test some electronics changes compared to Friday. Right from the start he seemed faster and more constant; then, it was time to put on the qualifying tyre, so as to better prepare for the Superpole. An excellent lap, with amazing split times in the second half of the TT Circuit, put him in third position, just a few tenths from the top. A nice start to the day that energized even more the rider number 5.

Free Practices 3:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 1.34.540
P 2 I. Lecuona +0.206
P 3 P. Oettl +0.352

In Superpole the Go Eleven Team knew they had the speed to fight for a great result, considering that Philipp is a rookie in the category. This session, however, is always as delicate as it is important. With the first SCQ he printed a good laptime, valid for the temporary eighth position, then, after a quick pit stop to change tyres, he went back on track alone to attempt the final time attack. In the first three sectors he made all the staff of the Italian team dream, with split times that threw him in the second row, but, unfortunately, at the final chicane he lost the front, managing to save the bike with great skill; Unfortunately, even the lap after was gone, as he would not have had the speed to improve his Best! Eleventh position, therefore, fourth row for Race 1 and Superpole Race; a huge shame for what would have been a great lap, but the speed is there!

Superpole:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 1.32.934
P 2 A. Lowes + 0.478
P 3 J. Rea + 0.687
…
P 11 P. Oettl + 2.084

In Race 1 Philipp started relatively bad, losing five positions at the start. In the first laps he remained closed in the middle of the group, immediately taking a bit of a gap from the top ten. After seven laps behind Vierge, a rider who is always very difficult to overtake due to his hard braking, he managed to get rid of the HRC rider, setting off in pursuit of Gerloff, Redding, Mahias and Bassani. With a couple of personal fastest laps on the 35.5, he jumped into the exhausts of his opponents in front of him, then managed to overtake them in a very short time, with great braking and line changing, especially at the famous “Turn 15”, one of the most critical corners of Assen. Once overtook Redding, Philipp was able to launch in pursuit of the duo Baz and Lecuona, with the French rider first of the Independents. Although the Go Eleven rider recovered almost half a second per lap, unfortunately the race ended before Oettl could enter the battle. A stunning pace, perfectly in line with the Top 5, allowed Philipp to make twelve overall overtakes during the race, recovering up to the seventh final position; a result almost beyond the best expectations for a Rookie, in the second overall race in WorldSBK! The smile once he got off the bike could also be seen through the visor … and tomorrow there are two more races to take home!

Race 1:
P 1 J. Rea 33’22.865
P 2 A. Bautista + 0.103
P 3 T. Razgatlioglu + 1.014
…
P 7 P. Oettl + 22.002

Philipp Oettl (Rider):
“It was an interesting Race! I tried to keep calm from the beginning, because in the first laps I didn’t have such a good feeling with the bike. Then when I overtook some riders, I could ride free and the pace was amazing, also my riding style was better than in Aragon. We made a great job, the team made a great job, we worked through the winter in this direction and it is the right one. It’s the good way for the future too. Now we analyse all the datas, to understand where we can improve and what to keep for tomorrow. The goal for tomorrow is to do something similar to today, maybe with a much better start! We will try some new start configurations, because today I fought I had a good start, but then in Turn 1 I lost too many positions. Today the riding was good, it was strong, we reduced the gap by 7 seconds closer to the winner today, I am really happy!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):
“It was a very positive day, because in qualifying Philipp was doing a super lap that would have placed him in the first two rows, then unfortunately he made a mistake at the penultimate corner. Being already fighting for the top positions with a Rookie, it’s something important and that loads us even more. In the race I think we did a great job; the race pace was very fast, unfortunately the start penalized him a bit in the first laps, where we lost contact with Lecuona and Baz and the fight for the Best Independent. Today we were really close to the first Top Independent, but anyway it was still a great result. First Top Ten, it was our first target of the season and we reached it in the second race, that’s fantastic. Now we have to keep working, we still have to improve and we hope to have fun tomorrow as we did today! ”

Day three – Unfortunately an early retirement after battling Redding for 5th place

What a pity, that was not what we needed! After a good Superpole Race and an excellent start in Race 2, Philipp was forced to retire from the race following the engine failure, while he was fighting with Redding, who then finished in fifth position.
The day started well, with Philipp in great shape in the Warm Up. Six laps done, all on the very low 35, demonstrating great consistency and speed. The changes made compared to Race 1 paid off, allowing the German rider to push right from the first laps, even on new tyres.

Warm Up:
P 1 A. Bautista 1.34.120
P 2 J. Rea + 0.283
P 3 T. Razgatlioglu + 0.583
…
P 7 P. Oettl + 0.983

The Superpole Race is currently the most critical race for Go Eleven, as there is no time to recover in the event of a negative start; here in Assen, it was even shortened by a lap due to a bike that didn’t start just moments before the start. Philipp, once again, was unable to start very well, losing several positions in Turn 1; with nine laps the comeback to get into the nine is a difficult task. Oettl, however, sets his pace, managing to pass Mahias, Vierge and then Redding, with great aggression, and sets off in pursuit of the group that goes up to fifth position. Sector after sector he recovers tenths out of tenths, riding almost a second faster than his opponents. At the end of the last lap he arrives close to Bassani, but unfortunately it would have taken a couple of corners to get into the fight. It’s a pity for the time lost at the beginning, but all the staff is aware of the great potential expressed by the bike-rider package.

Superpole Race:
P 1 J. Rea 14’10.648
P 2 T. Razgatlioglu + 0.267
P 3 A. Bautista + 0.300
…
P 10 P. Oettl + 13.871

About race two, well, there is not much to say…unfortunately it was just a lap long, in which Philipp felt really confident and fit to get an important result. On the starting straight, then, while he was attacking Redding, the bike had a sudden drop in power, which forced the German rider to finish the race on the gravel. Unfortunately it’s racing, but it is even more disappointing when riders battling with the Ducati Go Eleven then finished in the top five.

Race 2:
P 1 A. Bautista 33’20.602
P 2 A. Locatelli + 8.770
P 3 I. Lecuona + 11.580
…
DNF P. Oettl

Now there will be three weeks before the WorldSBK protagonists are back in action at the Estoril circuit, Portugal, May 20-22. The technicians of the Italian team will analyze the reasons that led to the failure, and Philipp will be back on track at the Portuguese track to confirm the excellent progress seen at TT-Circuit Assen. Regardless of the last race, Oettl has shown that he is fast, consistent and can fight for the top positions, without making any particular mistakes. In the last race also the start was much better, so now we just need to put everything together and bring home a great result.

It was really nice to see the rider, who once returned to the garage, went to every member of the team to compliment the work done over the weekend, encouraging one by one after the disappointment of Race 2; we can have fun, Philipp!

Philipp Oettl (Rider):
“Today it was a short Race, I lost the power immediately after the first lap, but quite fast. I had to retire from the race. I think we had a really great potential, I felt strong, the bike was really good to ride, the team worked in the right direction and finally I had a good start, too. Everything was falling into place, but with this type of technical problem we can’t do anything. Of course it’s a bit disappointing, because riders that this morning had less pace than me almost fight for the podium, but it’s part of the game. Now we have three weeks off to get ready to the next one; in Estoril I made three podiums in the last two years, so I like the track!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):
“I am quite angry because today could have been a good opportunity for us and for Philipp. In motorsport we have to accept technical problems too, but we are really sorry. The positive side is that no one expected Philipp to be already at this level, he is really going strong and growing with incredible speed. I’m happy with him and my team’s work, we can’t wait to go back to Estoril to shake off this disappointment! ”