Practice gets underway at Phillip Island

2014-10-17 07:34
The Australian Grand Prix got off to a dramatic start with almost a third of the Moto2 field suffering a crash throughout the morning session, including AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing riders Johann Zarco and Ratthapark Wilairot.

Fortunate to escape unhurt and with little damage to the #14 Caterham Suter, Wilairot was able to re-join the first session and continue his efforts to adapt to the demanding Australian track. Meanwhile teammate Zarco was forced to sit out of the remainder of free practice one, whilst his crew worked to repair the damage to the #5 bike. With only seven laps under his belt, the afternoon’s session saw the Frenchman work tirelessly in an attempt to catch up with the rest of the field and better his pace.

#5 Johann Zarco: “This first day has been difficult because I crashed this morning. I was not pushing too much but I closed the front on the brake and I ended up missing most of the first practice.

“In the afternoon we tried to set the bike but it was not better and I really had to push a lot to do a lap time and I’m still far from the top position, so I cannot be happy. I need to trust in the work because at the moment I don’t have very much confidence on the bike.

“We will see tomorrow, but I know once we can find a base, find a good setup, I will be there. The track is a nice track and I have good reference to be fast I just need the good feeling back.”

#14 Ratthapark Wilairot: “This morning my plan was to try and make a long run and build my speed throughout the session. It is quite difficult to understand what happened when I crashed because I was just building a little bit at a time and then I just lost the rear. I know there were quite a few other riders with the same problem.

“The set-up on the bike was not too bad this morning but I am struggling with the feeling going out of the corners. Tomorrow I think we must make some adjustments to the geometry on the bike and then hopefully it will be a little easier to ride.”

Source: Caterham Moto Racing Team

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