Bendsneyder and Odendaal back to business
Bo Bendsneyder and Steven Odendaal quickly found the rhythm again at the Automotodrom in Brno, where the Grand Prix season resumed after the summer break. In the first free practice, both riders of NTS RW Racing GP did very well. In the second session things were a bit more difficult, with two crashes for Odendaal, but a promising seventeenth time for Bendsneyder.
The team and the riders enjoyed three weeks off, but were also happy to get back to work. Immediately in the first practice, Bo Bendsneyder (sixteenth) and Steven Odendaal (eighteenth) were in good shape. In the second practice the Dutchman improved his time, but not his position. His 2.02.535 was good for seventeenth place in the combined standings after both sessions. His South African teammate Steven Odendaal was unable to improve his time due to two crashes – first a lowsider in turn 13, then a highsider in turn 7. He finished the day in 28th.
Bo Bendsneyder: “The holiday was good to rest and clear your head, but it is also very nice to be back with the team and to be on the bike again. The first practice went well. Not yet on the hard tire, but on the soft one it was pretty good. We were able to take a big step and improve the laptime, but we also knew that it had to go much faster to get to the top 14 – that is the goal. On the used tire I was immediately faster in FP2 and after a few adjustments it went even better, but it was just not enough for the top 14. I was short of twotenth. We now know that we are close in dry conditions and therefore I hope that it will be dry tomorrow morning, but the weather forecast says it might rain.”
Steven Odendaal: “I am very happy with how it went in FP1. The eighteenth time and not far from Bo: that was positive. In FP2 I started on used tires and with a different setting. The setting felt good, but with the new tires I made a nasty highsider, so I could not finish the practice. Such a crash really hurts, but fortunately nothing is broken. The expectation of rain is probably not too bad for us, but we have to wait and see how it goes.”