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STRONG FRIDAY PERFORMANCE AT THE ISLAND

Dominique Aegerter and his Kiefer Racing team put in a blistering start to the weekend at Phillip Island.

Despite strong winds in the afternoon, this weekend’s round 16 at the Australian Grand Prix got started under good conditions. So, this was why both Friday’s free practice sessions took place on a dry track, a very welcome opportunity for all teams and riders particularly after last week’s rain soaked Motegi race.

Dominique Aegerter, who had never been able to get really along with the ultra-fast and flowing circuit at the marvellous island in the south of Australia, however, started with the right foot into the weekend this time. The Suter rider shone during FP1 as fifth fastest this morning already. In the afternoon, Aegerter was able to lower his lap time by two more tenth of a second and cheered himself as well as his crew in Kiefer Racing with second fastest lap time. In the end, the 27-year-old Swiss rider finished Friday at the Island in P3 in the combined practice times which means an important progress.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (Kiefer Racing, Suter MMX2), FP1: P5 - 1´34.206 (20/25) / FP2: P2 - 1´34.020 (7/23):

"Of course, it is a nice feeling to finish day one in third position, particularly at this track because I always have been struggling in the past with fast circuits. But today, we started well straight on and I had a good feeling with the bike and for the conditions. Taka’s (Nakagami) lap time, however, worries us a bit because his 1´33.3 is really strong and beyond that, he did his times at his own without any slipstream. In any case, a 0.7 second gap is too much for my taste. So, we have to improve to be there tomorrow too. During the afternoon session, the wind was a problem again which caused some crashes when riders lost the front in these critical parts of the track. For myself speaking, I also had two, three moments where the limit was clearly to feel. But anything else is going according to plan and we are confident for the remaining weekend."

Moto2™ Australian Motorcycle GP – Combined Free Practice Times FP1/FP2:
1 Takaaki NAKAGAMI / JPN / IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia / KALEX / 1´33.310 (FP2)
2 Mattia PASINI / ITA / Italtrans Racing Team / KALEX / 1´33.986 +0.676 (FP1)
3 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Kiefer Racing / Suter MMX2 / 1´34.020 +0.720 (FP2)