Aegerter is back, Mulhauser had a small crash

Today was marked by the comeback of Dominique Aegerter (Technomag Racing Interwetten), who was ninth in the qualifying session (third row of the starting grid), while the best Swiss representative of the Grand Prix of Qatar - Thomas Lüthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten) was unlucky. He struggled with an electronic problem, which did not allow him to do more than six laps. On this superb circuit of the Americas, there are fourteen riders in one second in the Moto2 class with Xavier Siméon from Belgium on pole position. Ninth in this qualifying practice on this circuit that he particularly enjoys, Dominique Aegerter pleased his boss Frédéric Corminboeuf: "This qualifying position, putting Dominique on the third row of the grid, shows that Domi, on this track that he loves, has found himself again. He lacks, actually we all lack, some more laps of experience with our new material but this performance is great for the remainder of the season. Robin Mulhauser was struggling a bit more this afternoon; after his crash at the beginning of the session, he was too nervous but I am sure that he has what it takes to be in Top20 in the race tomorrow. And Tom, what can I say? A double electronic issue ruined his qualifying session even though he could have done a lot better; in the box we had to control everyone's temper as we were trying to fix the problem as quickly as possible and in these conditions the team did a great job." The start of the Moto2 Grand Prix of the Americas will be this Sunday evening at 7:20pm, Swiss time.

And they said...

Dominique Aegerter (Technomag Racing Interwetten, 9th): "I am only 6 tenths of a second behind the fastest lap time, which shows that we are back in the game. I still feel the lack of time spent on the bike mainly when it comes to finding a more natural position on the bike to be more efficient while braking into the corners. We are working very hard with the team and I know that we are aiming in the right direction. But I have to say it again, my riding is not yet as smooth as it should be; I have to battle with the bike a lot and even though my physical condition is perfect, I struggle to give out this much. Then my crash on Friday left me with a bad souvenir on my upper back, but I will have to forget about it in the race on Sunday."

Robin Mulhauser (Technomag Racing Interwetten, 25th): "I was behind Alex Marquez from the opening of the session and my first lap was quite good. Then I was attacking my second lap and I tried to brake too hard into the first corner and I crashed, luckily without hurting myself. I took my bike back to the box and we changed the set-up back to what we had this morning. I improved my lap time quite a bit and without even giving one 100% clear lap. It is entirely my fault, I know I could have been in Top20 today. Now I have to concentrate on the race and who knows, perhaps if it rains it will be interesting."