ENCOURAGING TOP-TEN START FOR SALAČ IN DAY ONE FP
Free Practice – #AustralianGP It has been a challenging first day of action at Phillip Island, with changeable weather conditions and strong winds. Conditions were very difficult in the morning, which saw Alessandro Zaccone crashing out in the early moments of FP1 while making his debut at the Australian venue. Free Practice 2 were not lucky either for the Italian rider, who after setting the 25th quickest time, he found himself on the ground once again. Tomorrow’s FP3 will be key for Zaccone in order to recover the feeling with the bike ahead of qualifying.
Filip Salač, on the other hand, had a positive start to the weekend – despite the weather. The rider #12 finished FP1 in second place and then further improved his lap-time in the second session; he was eventually eighth in the combined times, a result that currently gives him the direct seed to Q2.
8th – FILIP SALAČ #12 (1’34.643)
“Today’s conditions were really difficult as the wind was very strong. We still managed to be quick as we were second in FP1. We were still competitive also in the second session and showed a good pace with used tyres, before going for the time attack with fresh ones. I can’t complain with today’s result – if it rains tomorrow we’ll be in Q2. We’ll continue to work in this direction and see what qualifying bring us.”
25th – ALESSANDRO ZACCONE #61 (1’36.099)
“It was a very difficult day for us. In the first free practice session, I managed to do only a few laps due to the crash early on. Then in FP2 did a few more and get up to speed, while improving lap after lap. I then get back to the garage to change tires and on the out lap I tucked the front at turn 8, the fast and long one. Too bad, because I like the track and I was starting to get into rhythm and have fun. Let’s hope for a better day tomorrow!”
