Tom Lüthi (9th) is not there yet
Not only it is a must-see event, it is also one of the most beautiful circuits of the calendar: the motorcycle world championship circus has now set up its base in the Tuscany valleys (Italy) around Mugello circuit for the first round of four Grand Prix events in five weeks - an important turning point of the season. Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten) did not hesitate to make a head start on the first day of this hot early June. He tested a few different settings while trying to save his best tyres in the afternoon. New in the Garage Plus Interwetten colours, former Moto3 World Champion Danny Kent, replacing Iker Lecuona (the young Spaniard underwent an operation in Spain on his right collarbone following a crash during the free practice for the French Grand Prix), was classified 22nd, six positions ahead of his teammate from Zurich, Jesko Raffin. Frédéric Corminboeuf, the boss of the two Swiss teams, comments on the first day in Italy: “It is an interesting debut for Danny Kent in our team. He had the second best top speed this morning and the best top speed in the afternoon, which shows that our bikes work very well. Jesko is still struggling to relax on the bike, we need to work on this with him but I know he has a solid base and he will find a solution. Tom was 7 tenths off today, which shows that we still need more, although everyone is working really hard. I am not worried, knowing that the main focus is on the race on Sunday.”
He said…
Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten, 9th):
“I was able to find a good rhythm quite quickly this morning, but when I tried to go faster I was on the limit very soon. We changed the set-up twice but we did not improve so tomorrow we will go back to our base set-up. I am neither nervous nor worried yet; today was just an ordinary day for someone who wants to fight in the front. And this afternoon I only used old tyres, which means that this ninth position does not reflect where we really are.”
Mugello (Italy). GP of Italy, first practice day (2 sessions): 1. A. Marquez (SPA, Kalex), 1’52.229 (168.200 km/h); 2. Nakagami (JPN, Kalex), + 0.100; 3. Morbidelli (ITA, Kalex), + 0.339; 4. Pasini (ITA, Kalex), + 0.386; 5. Corsi (ITA, Speed Up), + 0.398; 6. Bagnaia (ITA, Kalex), + 0.623; 7. Binder (RSA, KTM), + 0.703; 8. Oliveira (POR, KTM), + 0.749; 9. Lüthi (SWI, Kalex, carXpert Interwetten), + 0.784; 10. Baldassari (ITA, Kalex), + 0.804. Further: 22. Kent (GBR, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), + 1.538; 24. Aegerter (SWI, Suter), + 1.622; 28. Raffin (SWI, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), + 2.114. 33 classified.
