A sweet ending for Philipp Oettl in the weekend in Most; eighth place in Race 2, Top Ten target done and a nice improvement on the final day of Round 06, the result of Philipp’s work on himself and the improvements of the Go Eleven branded V4-RS.
In the Warm Up the Italian team tested the softer solution, the SCX, for the distance of ten laps, to understand if it could be a solution that could be used in the Superpole Race. Unfortunately, with the softer solution the bike tended to move a lot, and after only three laps the drop was sharp and decisive. Difficult to use for the Ducati Go Eleven even in the “short” race.
Warm Up:
P 1 M. Rinaldi 1.31.650
P 2 J. Rea + 0.062
P 3 T. Razgatlioglu + 0.361
…
P 12 P. Oettl + 1.575
In the Superpole Race the technicians, in agreement with Philipp, opt for the SC0; many risk the SCX, but in reality there was not a much better choice than the other. Philipp was forced to cut the chicane in Turn 1, as it was closed on the outside, coming back on track close to the Top Ten; the battle with the opponents of this round immediately ignited, Mahias, Bernardi and Vierge. Towards the end of the race the group fighting for ninth position, the only valid one to enter the grid inversion, regroups, but the German rookie is unable to enter the battle before the checkered flag. Thirteenth position, but a much faster and more concrete race than yesterday.
Superpole Race:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 15’21.996
P 2 J. Rea + 2.327
P 3 A. Bautista + 3.406
…
P 13 P. Oettl + 15.271
In Race 2 Philipp is starting inside, from fifteenth position due to the forfait of Alex Lowes, suffering from an intestinal infection. He starts well, then at the first corner he manages to defend his space, already overtaking an opponent. At the end of the second lap he is thirteenth, and sets out in pursuit of Baz, Mahias and Vierge. Baz crashes, Mahias is overtakes in T 1 a few laps ahead, but Vierge now has a bit of gap to close. From the middle of the race onwards Oettl maintains a good pace, enough to recover almost a second to the Spaniard on Honda, and take space from the riders behind. In the final Gerloff and Lecuona were forced to retire due to tyre problems, so the German rider finished eighth at the end of a very good race. Second best result of the season, positive Top Ten conquered!
Race 2:
P 1 T. Razgatlioglu 33’55.494
P 2 A. Bautista + 0.756
P 3 J. Rea + 2.833
…
P 8 P. Oettl + 26.436
Mid-season completed, WorldSBK now faces a summer break of around five weeks, before returning to the track at the historic Magny-Cours track! A positive first part for the Go Eleven rider, already able of achieving two Top Ten in his debut year, also quickly recovering the feeling after breaking his collarbone. Let’s see what awaits us from September onwards, when the 2022 season ignites!
Philipp Oettl (Rider): “Today it was a really interesting day, in the Warm Up we tried the SCX tyre, but it didn’t work. In Superpole Race we choose the SC0, then we tried to improve for Race 2 and we managed it quite well. The start was way way better, I think now I understood how to start. I am happy with the progresses we made through the weekend, cause we took the right direction. We had our second best result of the season, now we can start the summer break, collect all the data and see where we can improve. I have already planned some test day with my training bike to get ready for second part of the season!”
Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager): “I’m happy with today’s race and the progression we had over the weekend, Philipp and the team were able to find the right way to improve performance after some complicated free practice sessions, and in race two we were 5 seconds faster than race 1 , the eighth place is a nice confirmation that sends us on vacation aware of being consistent and having what it takes to go even faster. I want to thank the whole team for the commitment and the great work they are doing, race after race we try to adapt our Ducati more and more to Philipp’s style!”
