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THIRD ROW START IN DOWN UNDER

Even though Dominique Aegerter was not able to repeat his strong Friday's performance during qualifying, the 27-year-old Swiss and his Kiefer Racing team heads highly confident into this season’s 16th points haul on Sunday at Phillip Island.

After good and stable conditions on day one of practice, on Saturday the weather appeared in its usual moody shape for southern Australia. A brief shower in the morning was the reason for mixed conditions during FP3 though, the track dried out quickly. But teams and riders had to cope with different track conditions compared to the previous day. Before qualifying got underway, however, a short drizzle caused once again anxious moments in respect how to set up the bike.

The changed conditions with cooler temperatures were also a reason why Dominique Aegerter could not find the same good feeling as during Friday’s free practice sessions. The Suter rider, who was third fastest in the combined time sheets after FP2, recorded 14th fastest lap time on Saturday morning. As soon the conditions became clear during qualifying and improved with the duration of the session, Aegerter was able to top up his speed to his usual level immediately. The Swiss and his crew, however, were not able to take full advantage from the softer tyre option which was why he qualified for eighth spot on the starting grid finally.

For the second race during the annual October flyaways, an early wake-up call is required too because the starting time for the Moto2™ encounter is set for 5:20 am CET.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (Kiefer Racing, Suter MMX2), Grid position 8th – 1´33.944 (14/20):

"Because of the rain in the morning, the track offered less grip than yesterday. Therefore, it was more difficult to put in strong lap times during FP3. For the qualifying session, omen was also gloomy as it started to rain slightly just before it got started. But the rain stopped immediately again and these just few damp spots disappeared quickly. The fact that the track always dried out that much rapid here is normal because of the sun and the wind, even though the temperatures are very cool. So, this was why we stayed in the garage for the early minutes and then we started our time attack with slick tyres straight away."

"In the afternoon, however, my feeling improved a lot compared to FP3 in the morning. It was almost at the same level like during Friday’s sessions. From that point of view, I was able to set strong lap times right from the beginning. Regarding to the tyre choice, however, we got a bit surprised, because the actually better option for these conditions did not work properly. Therefore, we probably will choose the harder option for the race. Our gap with 0.6 seconds to pole position is similar than on Friday but in respect to our pace we were as good and consistent as the top guys. But now we have to wait and see how the weather is going to be tomorrow because it looks like to be half-wet and half-dry. But anyway, we can head into race day with a confident feeling. In any case, I want to give full throttle at this amazing track tomorrow."

Moto2™ Australian Motorcycle GP - Qualifying Classification:
1 Mattia PASINI / ITA / Italtrans Racing Team / KALEX / 1´33.300
2 Marcel SCHRÖTTER / GER / Dynavolt Intact GP / Suter MMX2 / 1´33.008 +0.008
3 Miguel OLIVEIRA / POR / Red Bull KTM Ajo / KTM / 1´33.422 +0.122
8 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Kiefer Racing / Suter MMX2 / 1´33.944 +0.644