Excellent start for Raffin and Bendsneyder
Jesko Raffin and Bo Bendsneyder started the Australian Grand Prix well. Raffin finished the first day on Phillip Island in ninth place, while Bendsneyder set the seventeenth fastest time in the dry second practice. The riders of NTS RW Racing GP also did well in the wet first practice, with the sixteenth (Bendsneyder) and seventeenth (Raffin) time.
In the Australian spring it can get pretty spooky on the island south of Melbourne. That was apparent on the first day, with completely different circumstances in the first and second practice. Rain in the morning, with an asphalt temperature of only 18 degrees Celsius, dry and sunny in the afternoon, with an asphalt temperature of 32 degrees. Raffin and Bendsneyder did well in both cases.
The Swiss loves Phillip Island and has already achieved fourth and eighth place in the Moto2 races in recent years. In the second free practice session he was in fourth for a long time, before finishing in ninth place with 1.33.728. For Bendsneyder today was the first time on Phillip Island with a Moto2 machine; last year he missed this Grand Prix after the accident in Japan in which he broke his leg. He was quite satisfied with seventeenth time (1.34.140).
Bo Bendsneyder: “This was indeed a good first day. We had a great day with the weather, because even though it is not nice to ride in the rain, the information that we were able to collect and the experience were good. It can also rain on Saturday and Sunday – but maybe not and then the information from the second session is also very important. In both practices, under different circumstances, we were fast. Because it is the first time for me here in the Moto2 I had to get used to it and search for the lines, but the rhythm was good. In the second practice we did not even use a new tire, so that is also positive. I think I can still find a few tenths for myself and with some small adjustments to the bike, to create a slightly better feeling, we can still win something. We are close and that is the most important thing.”
Jesko Raffin: “The feeling was good in both sessions. Not perfect, but good. We have been able to extract valuable information from both practices and therefore also know where we can improve in different circumstances. I am very happy with the results, it was an great start.”