PHILIPP OETTL CONFIRMS TOP TEN IN DAY 1 AT MONTMELO’!

First day in Montmelò, bad weather spared WorldSBK giving (almost) a full day of sunny action. The riders were able to complete the planned work, taking as much information as possible in view of the races.

In FP 1 Philipp immediately became familiar with the Catalan track, finding a good feeling with his Ducati V4-R. In the first few steps he showed a clean riding, which gave him the Top 8 until the middle of the session. The Go Eleven Team completed the work with used tyres, not using the soft on the final, like some riders did, which generated large, but not entirely truthful gaps. The race pace shown seemed good when compared with the opponents, being at ease even after some changes made on the rear.

Free Practice 1:
P 1   I. Lecuona   1.41.396
P 2   M. Rinaldi   + 0.535
P 3   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.595
…
P 12   P. Oettl   + 1.622

In FP 2 the German rookie tested a pair of new tyres, with different compounds than in the morning. Although the feeling was good again, and the best lap arrived at the end of the stint, he missed a few tenths on the fastest lap. At the second exit, he managed to drop below 43.0, despite a not perfect first sector, which was then counterbalanced by a very effective last part of the track, in line with the top 5. Overall, the behavior of the bike is in line with what was requested by Oettl, and the tyre drop looks pretty good. Philipp has not yet tried the SCQ, which here in Barcelona seems to provide strong extra grip, and if the weather holds up, he will be able to test it tomorrow morning. In the event of a dry race, the goal of fighting in the Top Ten seems realistic.

Free Practice 2:
P 1   A. Bautista   1.42.018
P 2   J. Rea   + 0.040
P 3   A. Locatelli   + 0.067
…
P 10   P. Oettl   + 0.805

Saturday Schedule:
FP 3: 09.00 – 09.30
Superpole: 11.10 – 11.25
Race 1: 14.00

Philipp Oettl (Rider): 
“I think today it was a positive day, I did many fast laps in a row, but I think it will be also possible to improve tomorrow. We will see in which conditions we will have to race, if dry or wet, but our base is good by now. Riding with the others I found out how to be faster in some areas, especially in sector 4, changing the line compared to what I did in the test and this morning. I am quite optimistic for the next days here in Barcelona!”