Difficult qualification for Bendsneyder and Aegerter

The GP of Austria has not yet had a great course for NTS RW Racing GP. In qualifying at the Red Bull Ring, Dominique Aegerter placed 24th for Sunday’s Moto2 race with 1.29.589. Bo Bendsneyder got no further than the 29th fastest time (1.30.140).

Aegerter managed to significantly improve his time compared to Friday in both FP3 and Q1. However, that was not enough to considerably climb up in the standings. The Swiss finished tenth in Q1, meaning he will be in row 8 on the grid tomorrow.
Bendsneyder was also faster in FP3 than on Friday, but for him the improvements were smaller. In Q1, he failed to improve his time from FP3 (1.30.060), which meant his position was down to 15th in the qualifying session and he has to start from row 10 tomorrow at 12.20 CET.

Bo Bendsneyder: “Yesterday we thought it couldn’t get any worse, but unfortunately that turned out to be possible. The team works very hard and does everything possible, but we cannot find the right set-up. This morning it was not very bad with used tires, but with new tires it was. This afternoon in qualifying, I only had chatter, even at points where you normally don’t. It is difficult, and if we don’t find a way to improve it will be a very long race, but we will not give up. Not me anyway. I do everything I can to get the most out of it.”

Dominique Aegerter: “Improving was the goal for today and we succeeded in both FP3 and qualifying. The differences from the top are slightly smaller, but not enough. In Moto2 it all listens very closely. Everything has to be super precise. The smallest mistake immediately makes a huge difference. The position of where we start is not optimal, but in a race of 25 laps a lot is possible. The goal is to ride for points. It would be great if that works, for myself, but especially for the team, because they work very hard and they really deserve it.”