AMAZING SUPERPOLE, THEN THE WEATHER CHANGES RACE 1 PLANS!

All good, perhaps the best possible weekend, up to Race 1; this year it seems that when things get big, for some reasons Team Go Eleven fails to deliver. Spectacular Superpole, a remarkable pace, then before Race 1 it starts to rain, Philipp and the Team choose the rear Intermediate and the front Rain. A risky choice, perhaps wrong, but to try it was the thing to do.

In FP 3, the Phillip Island asphalt was really wet, forcing all the riders to go on track with the Rain tyres. The German rider takes a few laps to gain confidence, then improves his pace, however leaving several tenths in the second and last sector. In any case, various data collected without risking too much in a session that was not very useful for the purpose of the result.

Free Practice 3:
P 1   J. Rea   1.41.353
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 0.377
P 3   A. Lowes   + 0.523
…
P 16   P. Oettl   + 2.610

Superpole was finally a positive session for the Go Eleven-branded Ducati V4-R. Dry track, Phillip Island takes very little time to dry, head down from the first minutes, trying to make the most of the rear SC0. First Run, fifth time, half a second better than FP 2. New rear tyre, new chance to attack the time. First red sector, very fast, then defends well in the second, returning to make the difference in the last two. He conquers the seventh final position, falling below 31.0; best qualifying of the year, it would probably have been difficult to do better. Well done, really well done Philipp!

Superpole:
P 1   A. Bautista   1.29.815
P 2   J. Rea   + 0.211
P 3   A. Lowes   + 0.238
…
P 7   P. Oettl   + 1.148

Race 1, once again, didn’t give the German rider any satisfaction. Before the race, a long storm wets the asphalt, then a little sun comes out and dries the track quickly. On the grid Philipp and the team take a risk; intermediate on the rear, rain on the front, the only rider on the track with a different choice. Right or wrong, hard to tell even after the race; Philipp didn’t have much pace in the wet, and the team had nothing to lose. At the second corner the bike moves a bit, so the German rider goes off the track, he returns to the pits on the first lap to put on the rear Rain; a choice that could lead to nothing, so much so that he returns to the track last and lapped. At that point the race is over. Perhaps, at the end of the race, it can be said that by keeping the decision taken on the grid, Go Eleven could have fought well within the Top Ten; true, but if the rider doesn’t find the confidence, it’s difficult even just to do three “wet” laps without the right tyres.

Race 1:
P 1   J. Rea   36’47.340
P 2   T. Razgatlioglu   + 6.247
P 3   A. Lowes   + 15.435
…
P 20   P. Oettl   + 1 Lap

In any case, tomorrow there are still two races, the weather doesn’t seem well, but concluding the final race on a high note would be ideal for tackling the winter break!

NEVER GIVE UP!

Sunday Schedule (local time/ italian time):
FP 3: 10.30 – 10.45 / 00.30 – 00.45
Superpole Race: 13.00 / 03.00
Race 1: 16.00 / 06.00

Philipp Oettl (Rider):
“Today we made a bet on the grid, but it didn’t pay! We choose the intermediate on the rear, but it was unridable in the first laps. In turn 2 I had to go off the track, then I came in to go back to the rain, but the race was over. Then we put the Slick, and we had a good pace. Probably we made a wrong decision, but we had nothing to loose. I am disappointed, the Team is disappointed, too, cause we are fast, but we have a lack of good results. In the Superpole we had a super fast rythm, It was my best Qualy of the year, and in the dry I am fast. On the wet I think we just need to improve the feeling, cause we have the potential to be fast in that conditions, too. Tomorrow it will be the last day of the season, so I just want something good!”

Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):
“We knew the track would dry quickly and that’s why we opted for the intermediate rear tyre. In the first lap there was still a lot of water on the track, the sensation of aquaplaning convinced Philipp that it was too risky to continue. With 2 pits stop it was impossible to aim for any result. We are obviously disappointed, because once again we had the chance to bring home a good result, and once again we didn’t have a good result. Today, however, I am of the opinion that the risk was to be taken , we had nothing to lose and anything could happen in the race! We’ll try again tomorrow, perhaps hoping for a dry race!”

SATURDAY PICS 1: CLICK HERE