Double DNF for Marcel Schrotter and Tom Luthi in the Spanish GP

 In Moto2, News

The LIQUI MOLY Intact GP team unfortunately finished the Spanish Grand Prix empty-handed. Both Marcel Schrötter and Tom Lüthi crashed in the first race of the restart of the season in Jerez de la Frontera. However, the Moto2 riders have another go next week.

Marcel Schrötter has felt more comfortable than ever in Jerez so far and even managed to set a new lap record for the Andalusia circuit on Saturday. The 27-year-old started very well from the third row and advanced from seventh to fourth position. He prevailed against Marco Bezzecchi and Sam Lowes, among others, and tried to close a gap to the leading group that had arisen in the meantime. He may have been a bit too aggressive and, after having had to catch a couple of bigger slides, he crashed unexpectedly in turn eleven on lap eight, lying in fifth position.

In the meantime, LIQUI MOLY Intact GP rider Tom Lüthi had fought his way up a full ten places from starting position 19. The experienced racer, with his incredible fighting spirit, tried everything to bring home these important points despite the on-going problems that had been following him all weekend in Jerez. But then the tyres wore off too much and finally he lost control of his front three laps before the finish.

The disappointment after the two crashes was of course big. But there’s hardly time to be worried about it any longer, as the Andalusia Grand Prix will follow next week at the “Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto” from 24th to 26th July. It’s the perfect chance to forget this weekend, learn from it and make up for the two zero-point results.

Tom Lüthi

“I am very disappointed, I can’t really say much more at this point. The starting position was of course not ideal for the race, but even before in the warm-up we simply did not find the right direction. I really pushed hard, but I just couldn’t go any faster and it obviously wasn’t enough. My boys worked really hard, tried a lot, and were super motivated. I was also in good spirits, but of course, ending the weekend like this is truly bitter. I was over the limit and when the tyre wore out, I lost control of the front wheel. I am extremely sorry for the team, also for Marcel’s crash and the fact that we all started the season with zero points is rather disappointing. Nevertheless, we will continue to work hard and use the days off to work out a solid plan for the next weekend.”

Marcel Schrötter

“I am extremely disappointed and incredibly sorry for the team and our sponsors… We all worked hard to be able to race here today, we were looking forward to it. I gave my all and I think we had a good weekend overall. I’ve never been so competitive here in Jerez. I felt comfortable on the bike, I had fun, the team works really well together. The race provided slightly different conditions than in the previous sessions because we are racing before MotoGP. As a result, some grip was missing on track, which makes the bike behave differently. In the beginning, I had problems keeping control of the front tyre. I had two or three big slides, which made it difficult for me to close the gap. Despite everything, I was positive to be able to close up again. Maybe I should have given myself more time to really understand how the bike reacts, but we always learn from these races. We are trying to find a better balance for next week so that we can attack again. I’m sorry to have caused so much work for my team in this heat now, but we are all doing our best.”

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