Wilairot Impresses on Debut with AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing

2014-05-03 16:27
Under blue skies and in sweltering heat the AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing Team made a promising start to the first European round of 2014 at the Circuit of Jerez.

Standing in for injured rider Josh Herrin, Ratthapark Wilairot put in an impressive performance in his debut on the Caterham Suter.
Accomplishing his fastest ever time around 4.423 m circuit, Wilairot moved into the top 12 within the first 30 minutes of FP1. Continuing to adapt to the #14 bike the Thai rider finished FP2 in a respectable P13, just 0.719s off P1.

With the increased track temperature in FP2 teammate Johann Zarco worked hard to improve his feeling on the bike despite the lack of grip on track. Bettering his time from the IRTA test the Frenchman finished FP2 in P8 and feeling positive for tomorrow’s qualifying.

#5 Johann Zarco:

“Today hasn’t gone like the last Grand Prix as Jerez is not my special track but we don’t have to be disappointed. P11 is not so good but everyone is very close so the position at the moment doesn’t mean that much.

“We are setting up the bike and I have improved since the IRTA test, but in this heat we need to make some different adjustments.

“My aim now is not too push too much and to stay calm and focussed. I must prepare for the race because with the hot temperatures it’s going to be difficult. We will see tomorrow morning and maybe if we make the step in FP3 we will be more in the direction for Sunday and the qualifying.

“We are not worrying, we are working, the work is good and the technical side know what to do.”

#14 Ratthapark Wilairot:

“Today has been really good. This is my first time here after stopping racing for nearly one year. It’s been a nice surprise to get on the bike and quickly get a good feeling on it.

“The team works very well and I’m very happy with our plan for today, it’s perfect. We now understand the tyre for the race and we were able to do our best lap time on it, which means our bike and the suspension works very good and I’m happy.

“I want to say thank you to the AirAsia Caterham team for bringing me here and tomorrow I hope we can continue to get better. We have a couple of small adjustments to make in the morning and then together combining every sector, I think we can do well in qualifying which is very important in this class. ”

Source: Caterham Moto Racing Team

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