Sixth, eighth, seventh, the three results achieved by the Go Eleven team at Motorland Aragon! Solid, constant weekend, always at the top, without mistakes and above all Philipp Oettl was the author of hard-fought races in which he was able to attack when he needed to attack and defend at the end! Best Independent narrowly faded today too, but the important thing is to have found the confidence, speed and feeling with the Ducati V4-R that we had at the start of the season.
In the Warm Up, the German rider tested the rear SCX; In yesterday’s practice, this tyre did not provide a good feeling, it was unstable at the distance. The second comparison found the same critical issues, so it was decided to continue with the B800 with a view to Race 2. All ok, on a technical level, the concentration moves to the Superpole Race, where it is “mandatory” to enter the top nine.
Warm Up:
P 1 D. Petrucci 1.48.829
P 2 A. Bautista + 0.038
P 3 A. Locatelli + 0.367
…
P 14 P. Oettl + 1.259
In the Superpole Race Philipp started slightly worse than in Race 1, then found himself wide in turn three, where he lost a couple of positions. On the first lap, however, he found the space to immediately regain eighth position and started chasing Gerloff. The rear SCQ needs some management to last ten laps, and Philipp was able to push without putting too much stress on the softest solution available. He overtakes Gerloff, but suffers Vierge’s attack, managing to defend himself tooth and nail from the American’s return. Confirmed grid position and other points earned. Overtaking and defending, our weak points at Magny-Cours, have turned into our strengths at Motorland.
Superpole Race:
P 1 A. Bautista 18’18.964
P 2 J. Rea + 0.179
P 3 T. Razgatlioglu + 0.475
…
P 8 P. Oettl + 9.384
Race 2 starts in warmer conditions than Saturday, moving the focus even further on tyre management. The German rider started well, then a small mistake took him to the outside, thus being overtaken by Van der Mark and Axel Bassani. While the former struggled to maintain the pace, the Italian managed to take a slight advantage, which would later prove decisive in winning the Best Independent. Oettl comes back, takes advantage of his great speed in the last sector and in braking at turn 1 to take position on the BMW’s Dutch and, a few laps later, on Vierge. He closes the gap on Lecuona and Axel, arriving in the slipstream of the Spaniard, but on the other side he defends himself perfectly from the other Honda. Seventh place, great consistency of results, and another excellent performance at Motorland Aragon. It’s a shame because even today the title of best Independent faded for a few seconds, it seemed more within reach than yesterday, but when it comes to the top five positions it’s never easy to reach them, thanks to the opponents.
Race 2:
P 1 A. Bautista 33’20.785
P 2 T. Razgatlioglu + 4.064
P 3 M. Rinaldi + 7.109
…
P 7 P. Oettl + 18.152
If from the summer break good improvements seems to be showed by Team Go Eleven’s Ducati Panigale V4-R, the tenth WorldSBK Round certified how good had appeared since Magny-Cours. In France the glass was half empty due to the difficulties in emerging from the group, here in Aragon the Italian team came close to the maximum possible result; It’s difficult to ask for more even today, but by maintaining this consistency of results, we can aim really high in the last two rounds. WorldSBK doesn’t stop, after a few days dedicated to the travel of the entire circus and staff, we’re back on track in Portimao, 29 – 01 September!
Philipp Oettl (Rider):“Great weekend here in Aragon! Today the eighth position in the Superpole Race was really important for our Race 2’s start. Another P 7 in the afternoon, quite solid result. I am happy with the guys, they did a good job, today the feeling on the was quite different, maybe cause the track conditions were different, too. In the last laps of race 2 we were able to set a good pace and come back from P 11. The bike works really well, today we could also keep a more consistent pace, more linear for all the 18 laps. Now we move to Portimao, i really like the track, I hope we can continue in the right direction and achieve other stunning results!”
Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager):“Really positive weekend here in Aragon! We have never collected so many points this year in a single weekend, and Philipp is proving that he has not lost motivation, just as the team has never lost confidence. We are working together well and we are confirming ourselves in the fight for the Top independent of each race, here it narrowly missed out on us in both manches, but round after round we got back to where we wanted to be. I’m also happy with the approach to the race, here Philipp was decisive and aggressive from the first laps. Now we have to continue like this, constantly stay in the top eight and try to get some satisfaction when the right opportunity comes!”
 Sesto, ottavo, settimo, i tre risultati conquistati dal team Go Eleven al Motorland Aragon! Weekend solido, costante, sempre al vertice, senza errori e soprattutto Philipp Oettl è stato autore di gare combattute in cui ha potuto attaccare quando serviva attaccare e difendere nel finale! Best Independent sfumato per pochissimo anche oggi, ma l'importante è aver ritrovato la fiducia, la velocità ed il feeling con la Ducati V4-R di inizio stagione.){kind=link}