Italiano
PHILLIP ISLAND and THE RAIN; LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP FOR GO ELEVEN!
By now, if the track is dry, Oettl places the Ducati up front; in the Australian morning, he conquered the third time taking advantage of the time attack on the soft tyre, spared up to that moment by the Go Eleven Team, so as to get closer to qualifying little by little. Everything perfect, any particular problem and Ducati Go Eleven ready to face Superpole.
FREE PRACTICE 3:
P 1 I. Lecuona 1.29.764
P 2 A. Bautista + 0.179
P 3 P. Oettl + 0.353
Superpole saw Philipp Oettl ready and excited from the first minute; a first tyre took him to 30.4, finishing in the first 6 places, but as often happens, the second tyre is the one that really defines the starting grid. The German rider breaks down the barrier of 30, takes a momentary third position with an exceptional second and fourth sector. In the final stages he was beaten by a couple of riders, but still remained the best qualifying ever, just three tenths off pole position, second Ducati across the finish line. What a ride, pure show!
SUPERPOLE:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 1.29.400
P 2 A. Bautista + 0.184
P 3 D. Aegerter + 0.235
P 4 J. Rea + 0.315
P 5 P. Oettl + 0.374
When everything seems to be going your way, the inconvenience is always around the corner. During the Supersport Race, half an hour before the start of Race 1, the long-awaited and feared rain made its appearance, changing all the teams’ plans. As we know from last year, Philipp is not the classic “rain wizard”, so it was a defensive race, aiming to score points. Although the eleventh final position is certainly not the result hoped for after the excellent practices, the Go Eleven rider took a clear step forward compared to last year, still showing himself to be fast and ready for the Top Ten area. Good battles with Aegerter and Gardner, separated by a bit of gap in the last laps, and with Gerloff, who instead emerged victorious, livened up the race.
RACE 1:
P 1 A. Bautista 37’48.672
P 2 J. Rea + 3.471
P 3 T. Razgatlioglu + 6.168
…
P 11 P. Oettl + 44.142
For tomorrow the forecasts seems much better, and it will be a completely different story; 22 dry laps at Phillip Island are really tough and many things could mush up the standings, one above all, the management of the rear tyre. Oettl will start from fifth position for the Superpole Race, where the goal is to keep the row, before going all-in in Race 2. Temperatures should drop slightly, while the wind will not, which could be another determining factor. In any case, Team Go Eleven’s Saturday was quite positive, with the feeling of being really good and ready for a good result. Fingers crossed, we’ll catch up tomorrow!
Saturday Schedule (local time / Italian time):
h 10.30 – 10.45 / h 00.30 – 00.45 Warm Up
h 13.00 / h 03.00 Superpole Race
h 16.00 / h 06.00 Race 2
Philipp Oettl (Rider):
“The Superpole was amazing today, we finished in P 5, that is perfect both for Race 1 and Superpole Race. The main race was in full wet conditions, so we finished eleventh, and that was not our goal, but it was good for us to understand our position in the Rain. I am fifty-fifty; happy for the race in the rain, I improved a lot since last year, and I understand more or less how to be fast for the Top ten, on the other side we were on the top in all sessions, so that’s a pity Rain came just before Race 1. I think we can look forward in a positive way!”
Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):
“The Wet Race, after all the dry sessions, certainly changed the values on track. Philipp went very fast both in FP and in qualifying. The fifth fastest time, so close to the front row, confirms the excellent work done from the team and the rider. This was his first real wet race on a Superbike, and I think it went well, we certainly made an important step in terms of performance in wet conditions, so we are happy with how it went, we couldn’t ask much more; anyway I am a bit upset, because we knew that in the dry we could have fought for the front positions, but this is racing and we have to be competitive in all conditions!”
