Salom misses most of first practice after early crash

 In News

An early crash in the first free practice at Phillip Island left its mark on Luis Salom and RW Racing GP. After only five laps in the first session Salom crashed in turn 11, in the fastest part of the island in southern Australia.

The Spanish rider was unhurt, despite the high speed (200+), but the motorcycle was significantly affected by the fall. It took engineer Hans Spaan and his crew the rest of the session to get the machine rolling again.
“It was my own fault”, said Salom frankly. “Phillip Island is one of my favorite tracks and I had too much confidence too early. To do this section at full speed you need more rhythm. I just went in too fast too soon. Fortunately the damage is limited, but it’s a shame to miss a complete training session because of something like this.”

In the second free practice the early crash did not have much effect. Salom rode a little more careful, but he certainly had not lost confidence. With fast lap times he was third for some time. Towards the end of the session he dropped a bit back. With one minute to go – Salom was in seventh – he decided to enter the pits. ,,I had one more lap left, but I felt something wrong in the engine. Like a slight wobble. Probably a bit of dirt left from the crash. I did not feel comfortable with that. Doing a fast final lap without confidence is of no use.’’ In the last minute therefore Salom fell back to ninth place.

“Top 10 is fine”, team manager Marlon Fluit added. “It is a pity of the missed session, but it does not matter for now. The third free practice, on Saturday, will be an important one, we expect. The weather is changing. It is beautiful today, with sunshine and 22 degrees, but from Saturday it will turn colder and rain is expected. In that case the free practice is very important to determine the setup for the rest of the weekend.”

Source: RW Racing GP

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