Aegerter still inconsistent, Mulhauser improves
Thomas Lüthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten) will start the French Grand Prix on Sunday (at 12:20pm), on the circuit of Bugatti in Le Mans, from the second row of the starting grid. Shining from the first day of practice, the best Swiss representative of the first part of the season was fastest in the third free practice this morning before he managed to qualify sixth in the afternoon's qualifying session with slightly different track conditions - it was raining a bit in the beginning and a few drops of rain fell in the final minutes. His two teammates, Dominique Aegerter and Robin Mulhauser (Technomag Racing Interwetten), were 19th and 26th respectively in this qualifying session, in which the previous lap record of the circuit was broken. The boss of CGBM Evolution, the company that owns the two teams, Frédéric Corminboeuf, was positive about the results today: "Being the quickest in the final free practice this morning, Tom Lüthi showed us that he is one of the strongest men in this category. This afternoon he was perhaps a bit too cautious when some drops of rain arrived but his overall pace makes him a hot candidate for a podium. Dominique Aegerter had some ups and downs again - this morning he was only 0.5s behind Tom but then he wanted more and maybe too much - we have to find more consistency with him. When it comes to Robin Mulhauser, he gave us a nice surprise in the qualifying: he is only 1,7s behind the pole man and even though he is only 26th on the grid, he showed us today that his level of performance has improved."
They said...
Dominique Aegerter (Technomag Racing Interwetten, 19th): "My feeling has improved a bit. We tried a few different things again in terms of the set-up of the bike, my riding style and my position on the bike. I have never been this quick on this circuit in Le Mans, which is positive, but I know as well that all the lap records have been broken today. Even though I am only a second off the pole, I am on the seventh row with this 19th fastest time. I think that I can win some places at the beginning of the race but unless I can be more consistent in my performance, it is going to be very difficult. As always I will give it everything I have and try to score as many points as possible, ideally a Top-10."
Robin Mulhauser (Technomag Racing Interwetten 26th): "The day did not start well for me because after we changed the new tire this morning, I wanted to increase my pace and I lost control of the front. With my chief technician Didier Langouet, we therefore decided to change my bike completely for qualifying, we made a step back compared to what we found in Aragon in testing, and on my second lap I knew that we were aiming in the right direction. This time I am not far off a good group, the gap has never been so small and I enjoy riding again. I know that tomorrow I will have a bike that suits me well and I am really looking forward to this race."
