Friday

Top 5 after coming back from injury

The best Friday of the season so far, arrives at the least expected moment! Philipp Oettl, at the comeback from the injury with an operation on his right collarbone, sets the fifth time on the opening day of the Misano Round, less than half a second from the top. But let’s go step by step…

The morning opens under a gray and unpromising sky, which, together with the cold air conditions the FP 1. Philipp takes to the track with the “traditional” compounds (remembering that here Pirelli has brought two evolutionary versions of the classic SCX), showing himself immediately at ease on the bike, with good confidence even in the right turns. Towards the middle of the session the rain wets the track slightly, but at the end the protagonists of the WorldSBK push back hard. Philipp, in agreement with the Team, finishes the tyres, without attempting the time attack. He finishes in the Top Ten about a second from the top.

Free Practice 1: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   1.34.603
P 2   A. Locatelli   + 0.241
P 3   J. Rea   + 0.264
…
P 9   P. Oettl   + 1.038

In FP 2 the German rookie shows a great pace right from the first laps; always in the first seven / eight positions throughout the session, he makes comparisons between the new rear solutions, obtaining a great feeling with his Ducati Panigale V4-RS. Towards the end of the session he returns to the track with the aim of attempting a time attack, but without using the Q, also evaluating some small adjustments required on the engine brake. With a clean lap and without forcing more than necessary, he sets the fifth position, following the “fantastic four” up front, finishing as the first Independent rider, and above all limiting the gap to under 0.5 seconds. An incredible performance, less than two weeks after the injury, which goes beyond the best expectations. The general shoulder pain is bearable, and more importantly, it doesn’t affect Philipp’s riding too much.

Free Practice 2: 
P 1   A. Bautista   1.34.008
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.107
P 3    J . Rea   + 0.126
P 4   M. Rinaldi   + 0.176
P 5   P. Oettl   + 0.490

Tomorrow will be much more complicated than today, as it will be necessary to evaluate Philipp’s physical strength over the race distance. Today the pace was good for a result in the Top Ten, but there is still a lot of work to be done, especially in the area of the engine brake and the line coming out of corners. The most important thing is that it is racing day, from the Misano World Circuit!

Philipp Oettl (Rider): 
“I am really happy with today, P 5 is a little bit more than we expected, the shoulder seems to work ok, I don’t have so much pain, but I think for the race it will be a bit different, I will have to do many laps more. The bike works well, the team works well, I have a good feeling with my Ducati. In FP 3 I want to try to improve the engine brake, but everything else  is ok, and I am quite ready for tomorrow!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager): 
“Philipp today really surprised me, two weeks ago he was under surgery and today he got the best Friday of the season! In the morning he tried to regain the feeling with the Ducati, without going over the limit, then in the afternoon he was consistently in the top 8, then finishing fifth. I think we can still fix something especially in terms of the race, but if Philipp’s shoulder doesn’t cause him too many problems, we can get a good result!”

Saturday

Philipp crashes in the first laps of race one, but is ok

A Saturday started great, but ended in the worst way for Team Go Eleven and Philipp Oettl; after the third time in FP 3, a Superpole conditioned by the yellow flags and Race 1 finished prematurely following a crash, they have extinguished the hopes for the Piedmontese Team to bring home an excellent result.

FP 3 gave a surprising result; Philipp took his Ducati Panigale V4-RS to third place, just two tenths behind Alvaro Bautista. During the session, which began with used tyres, Philipp tried to fix the engine brake, proving to be quite satisfied at the end of the session, especially for riding below 34.0 at Misano!

Free Practice 3: 
P 1   A. Bautista   1.33.721
P 2   I. Lecuona   + 0.074
P 3   P. Oettl   + 0.250

The Superpole started with great expectations for Team Go Eleven, Philipp was always excellent on the Q lap all weekend; with the first qualifying tyre, in his fastest lap he had to overtake a slower rider in the last sector, losing more than half a second, while he was in line with the first two rows, then, with the decisive SCQ another rider falls a few corners in front of the German rookie, generating the yellow flag and forcing him to abort the lap. With this second misfortune, the number 5 loses focus slightly, failing to be incisive in the final attack. Thirteenth place on the grid, not the desired result, and a grid position that slightly complicates the plans for Race 1.

Superpole: 
P 1   A. Bautista   1.33.328
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.137
P 3    J . Rea   + 0.190
…
P 13   P. Oettl   + 1.202

Race 1 lasts very little for the blue-black-white ducati of the Piedmontese team. Philipp fights with the BMWs to comeback some positions and fight in the top ten, but on the fourth lap, in turn six, he enters too aggressive and a bit wide and loses the front. There was no consequence for either the rider or the bike, a simple crash, but unfortunately the race was lost.

Race 1: 
P 1   A. Bautista   33’14.661
P 2   J. Rea   + 5.128
P 3   M. Rinaldi   + 8.289
…
DNF   P. Oettl 

On Sunday it will be essential to look for redemption, starting from the awareness that Philipp is really fast, but for one reason or another, the good result is struggling to come. Tomorrow there will be two more opportunities, both Philipp and the technicians, will give 100% to make some small improvements and give battle.

Philipp Oettl (Rider): 
“Our Race today was little bit too short! I made a mistake and then I lost the front, I am disappointed because it could have been a good race, after a disappointing qualifying, too. There was a yellow flag on my fastest lap and I couldn’t achieve a good starting position. So we look forward to tomorrow to regain some confidence, I will try to stay calm in the Warm Up, just to understand if everything works well. for the Superpole Race my goal is to improve the starting position, than we see in Race 2!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager): 
“Here in Italy in front of this public the desire to do well is more felt than ever, Philipp returns from an injury and an operation carried out just two weeks ago, the first success would have been to be able to ride, but in FP he surprised everyone proving to be among the fastest on the track. This raised expectations, but also added the anxiety of physical condition, I did not know the real physical possibilities at the end of the race. Unfortunately, after unlucky qualifying due to a yellow flag, which probably caused him a bit of nervousness. In the race he was then betrayed by the desire to comeback. This guy is very strong, often surprises me… as soon as his condition is back to 100% we should be able to exploit his full potential, I’m too much curious to find out where it can get!”

Sunday

Philipp struggles through the pain to gain points in race two

A Sunday of ups and downs for the Go Eleven team, marked by the great tenacity of Philipp Oettl who was able to grit his teeth, suffer, but bring home a positive result close to the Top Ten.

The morning opens with a good Warm Up for the German rider, who tested the new Pirelli evolution at the rear, trying to regain the feeling with the bike lost after the crash in Race 1. Eleventh place, riding under 35, without taking too many risks is still a positive sign; upon returning to the pits he begins to complain of a growing pain in his right shoulder, accusing a bit of loss of strength.

Warm Up: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   1.33.770
P 2   J. Rea   + 0.199
P 3  A. Bautista   + 0.247
…
P 10   P. Oettl   + 1.000

Superpole Race, Philipp chooses the new 452 tyre at the rear, perhaps a SCQ could have been a good choice, too, but unfortunately it would have affected Philipp’s operated shoulder too much, creating further physical pain. The rookie starts badly and at the first corner he is completely outside, losing many positions and passing in nineteenth position. Then the recovery begins, he passes four riders the two laps, seeming in good shape on the bike. On the fourth lap he makes a mistake by going wide, then the Ducati Go Eleven accuses a small problem in the gear change, which forces him to retire. Another zero, unfortunately, with the pain in the shoulder that increases, so much so that the signs of fatigue begin to be seen on his face.

Superpole Race: 
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu   15’46.121
P 2   A. Bautista   + 2.087
P 3    J . Rea   + 4.975
…
DNF   Philipp Oettl

have to grit his teeth and fight the pain and fatigue to end the weekend. On the starting grid, a technical problem, fortunately solved quickly by the technicians, creates a bit of apprehension, but then everything went on normally. Philipp manages to have a quite good start, even though he is again outside the first corner. He then sets his pace at 35 high / 36 low, trying to save energy for the final laps, but at the same time overtaking slower riders on the track. He recovers on Laverty and Tamburini, overtakes them, but in the exchange of positions, the trio loses time compared to Loris Baz. From the middle of the race onwards, the German number 5 suffers a lot, even on a straight he cannot keep the gas open at 100% due to a sore arm, thus loosing tenths from his opponents. In the last laps, riding smoother and more relaxed, he manages to get back to fast times, again taking a small gap from the riders behind him and even recovering almost all the ground on the Top Ten, but not being able to enter the fight. In the closed park, after the checkered flag, he could hardly stand up, exhausted, but satisfied with the tenacity and the result obtained.

Race 2: 
P 1   A. Bautista   33’12.030
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 7.194
P 3   M. Rinaldi   + 11.119
…
P 11   P. Oettl   + 40.881 

The Go Eleven team thanks all the guests, for having supported, cheered and participated in the events of the Italian Round, which once again proved a bit bitter for the team of Denis Sacchetti and Gianni Ramello, but which overall created a great show both inside and outside the track!

Philipp Oettl (Rider): 
“It was a good end of a really up and down weekend. After Friday I really expected that my physical level stays the same for the three days, but Saturday it went worse step by step. I learned a lot this weekend about riding in hot conditions compared to the races before. I am looking forward to rest a bit in the next days, because Race 2 was really hard. This morning we had some technical problems, but the Team hasn’t to blame for it, we were just unlucky, also today afternoon on the grid the bike had a small problem, but the guys worked really fast to solve it and in the Race everything was good. I am happy that the team continues to work, we had a good atmosphere this weekend and I hope the next year we can have better results for our home race!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager): 
“Philipp today put his heart to be able to finish the race, it was really a great proof of love for this sport and for the team, and his face at the end of the race spoke for itself … he was so exhausted that he could not even say a word. Lap by lap the pain in his shoulder increased and his strength decreased proportionally. We are happy that he managed to come close to the top ten in these conditions, he has shown insane persistence. Now we have a month to recover, from Donington we will try to be more solid over the course of the weekend!”