The first day of the Italian GP was not the easiest for NTS RW Racing GP. The pieces of the puzzle did not all fall into place for Bo Bendsneyder and Steven Odendaal. On the spectacular but difficult circuit of Mugello, Bendsneyder finished the day in 21st (1.53.156). Odendaal recorded the 25th time (1.53.668). Mugello is typically a track where everything has to be right in order to make a good lap time. If you exit one corner just a little bit off the line, you are in the wrong place for the next. For both the Dutchman and the South African, it was difficult to get it all right. In the first free practice Bendsneyder opened with the sixteenth time and Odendaal became 22nd. Both improved their time in the afternoon session, but that did not lead to better positions. “These are not the positions we want,” NTS RW Racing GP team manager Jarno Janssen noted. “Bo in particular is on the right track, but we are still a bit short. Slipstreaming is very important at Mugello. The individual parts are good, but we have to connect them to achieve a good lap. Hopefully everything will fall into place tomorrow.”
Bo Bendsneyder: “The feeling with the bike is very good, but my guys have to do some work to get more top speed out of it. I lose almost 10 km on the straight if I ride alone. That’s too much. We have made a good step for FP2 with the setup and I believe that the top 14, to get into Q2, is certainly possible, but then everything must be right. It is also largely up to me to make it right, so we are going to work on that.”
Results FP2:
Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
1 | Luca MARINI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’51.986 |
2 | Thomas LUTHI | Dynavolt Intact GP | 1’51.994 |
3 | Mattia PASINI | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’52.173 |
4 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Dynavolt Intact GP | 1’52.447 |
5 | Nicolo BULEGA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’52.524 |
6 | Jorge NAVARRO | MB Conveyors Speed Up | 1’52.541 |
7 | Jorge MARTIN | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’52.548 |
8 | Enea BASTIANINI | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’52.568 |
9 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | MB Conveyors Speed Up | 1’52.617 |
10 | Simone CORSI | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | 1’52.631 |
11 | Remy GARDNER | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | 1’52.653 |
12 | Alex MARQUEZ | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’52.706 |
13 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’52.709 |
14 | Sam LOWES | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’52.715 |
15 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team | 1’52.721 |
16 | Xavi VIERGE | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’52.782 |
17 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’52.870 |
18 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | FLEXBOX HP 40 | 1’52.888 |
19 | Iker LECUONA | American Racing KTM | 1’53.008 |
20 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | FLEXBOX HP 40 | 1’53.038 |
21 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’53.156 |
22 | Stefano MANZI | MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward | 1’53.342 |
23 | Lukas TULOVIC | Kiefer Racing | 1’53.578 |
24 | Dominique AEGERTER | MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward | 1’53.618 |
25 | Steven ODENDAAL | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’53.668 |
26 | Marco BEZZECCHI | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’53.705 |
27 | Philipp OETTL | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’53.920 |
28 | Joe ROBERTS | American Racing KTM | 1’54.471 |
29 | Jake DIXON | Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team | 1’55.186 |
30 | Dimas EKKY PRATAMA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’55.549 |
31 | Xavi CARDELUS | Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team | 1’56.811 |
32 | Teppei NAGOE | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’56.879 |
Source: motogp.com, rwracinggp.com