ROAD RACING: Busy opening day for Bezzecchi and Öttl in Argentina

Both Red Bull KTM Tech3 team Moto2 rookies, Marco Bezzecchi and Philipp Öttl initiated the second round of the 2019 campaign in good shape today at the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit in Argentina and made some big steps throughout the day.
With the track conditions improving from FP1 to FP2, Bezzecchi lowered his initial fastest lap this afternoon by strong 1.579 seconds in order to get close to the top 20 by the end of the first day. Likewise, Öttl improved his pace during the second session and went 0.948 seconds faster than in the morning to eventually conclude Friday 0.786 seconds behind his teammate.

Marco Bezzecchi

Position: 24^th
Time: 1:44.556
Laps: 34

“The first day went quite good. We made a very great step, especially in riding. Also, the bike is in amazing shape, the gap to the front is small. We are very close to the points, which is our target. Still, I need to improve some parts of my riding style, but I will get there. Tomorrow, we will continue in this way and I aim to be even better and fight for the Q2. The team worked really good today and although I felt a bit of pain in my leg in the end of the second session, I’m convinced it will be fine.”

Philipp Öttl

Position: 28^th
Time: 1:45.342
Laps: 33

“The feeling on the bike is quite good. We tried a lot of different things today, like the tyres, in order to gather as much information as possible. Towards the end, we suffered a bit with the front, but I think it’s nothing we can’t solve. To be honest, I wanted to do a bit more progress than we finally did today, but I’m already looking forward to FP3, where we will have another go.”