The TT circuit in Assen was a good stop for Philipp Öttl last year. In his WSBK rookie season, the GoEleven Ducati rider was already in the top 7 at the second event. Expectations were high to confirm these results this year. But the weekend didn’t go according to plan.
In the Superpole Öttl did not get past P14 and thus had difficult conditions for the first race and the sprint race. After 14th place in the first race, he only finished 14th in the sprint race. Öttl had to start the second main race again from 14th place on the grid. In a race full of crashes, he was flagged down as eleventh.
Why didn’t it go as well as last year? “The field is really close together this season. The conditions weren’t the same as last year. I didn’t feel quite as comfortable on the bike,” Öttl explains to “Motorsport-Total.com”.
Superbike rider Öttl also sees positive aspects
“Other than that, the weekend wasn’t that bad, but everyone was very close together,” reports the German. “But if you’re not sorted out 100 percent, you can’t perform as expected.”
Especially at the beginning of the race, Öttl found it difficult to build up a good feeling and overtake opponents. Towards the end of the race, the Ducati rider gained momentum. “The lap times at the end of the race were usually quite good. But at the beginning of the race I had to struggle with the traffic,” says Öttl annoyed.
“We were just too far behind in qualifying. That didn’t work so well. We were 14th on the grid this year, 0.8 seconds down. Now we have to prepare well for Barcelona. Things went really well there last year.” , the 26-year-old looks at the fourth WSBK event.
GoEleven team manager Sacchetti is hoping for improvement
GoEleven team manager Denis Sacchetti sees positives and negatives after the weekend in Assen. “The differences between the individual drivers were very small here in Assen. There is not a big difference in terms of performance between 5th and 15th place. All drivers in this area are fast,” explains the Italian.
“We have to look at every detail to be better in the first half of the race,” said the GoEleven manager. “We’re competitive even if we haven’t been able to achieve the results we were hoping for. It leaves a bittersweet taste. It’s like smelling good food but not being able to eat it. But that increases our hunger!”