The freshly operated shoulder causes problems: Philipp Öttl impresses his GoEleven team in Misano with his determination and collects points
Philipp Öttl celebrated his comeback at the World Superbike Championship in Misano. The German had broken his right collarbone in a crash in Estoril at the end of May. After the operation, Öttl travelled to Misano ailing. But in the free practice sessions the GoEleven Ducati rider made an extremely strong impression.
With the third fastest time in the final practice on Saturday morning Öttl put an exclamation mark. But the rest of the weekend was bumpy. In Superpole, no clear lap was achieved and race one was ended prematurely after a crash.
On Sunday morning, Öttl had to bring his Ducati back to the pits in the Superpole race with a technical defect. In the extremely hot second race, he fought his way through the race distance despite pain and was classified eleventh.
At the finish Öttl was 40 seconds behind Ducati brand mate Alvaro Bautista. Due to the injury, Öttl could not open the throttle 100 per cent on the straights. As a result, he lost important tenths.
Philipp Öttl scratches top 10 despite severe pain
However, Öttl was ultimately satisfied with the outcome of the weekend: “It was a good end to a weekend full of ups and downs. After the practices on Friday I expected my physical situation to remain stable. But on Saturday it got worse step by step. “
“I learned a lot this weekend about what it’s like to race in high temperatures. I’m looking forward to getting some rest in the coming days because the second race was very tough,” the Ducati rider reported.
The retirement in the sprint race made the starting position for race two more difficult. “There was a technical problem in the morning. I can’t blame the team. It was just bad luck. There was also a small problem on the grid in the afternoon, but the guys worked very quickly to solve it. Everything went well in the race,” he praised his team.
The fight for 11th is ON between Oettl and Tamburini ⚔️ITAWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/roweCPcLbt
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) June 12, 2022
“There was a good atmosphere this weekend and I hope that next year we will have better results at our home race,” noted Öttl, who also wants to ride for GoEleven-Ducati in 2023.
Great praise from team manager Denis Sacchetti
Team manager Denis Sacchetti praised his rider’s strong will: “Philipp gave everything to finish the race. It was confirmation of his love for the sport and our team. His facial expression at the end of the race spoke for itself. He was so exhausted that he couldn’t get a word out.”
“Lap after lap, the pain in his shoulder got worse. At the same time, the strength was diminishing. We are satisfied that he came close to the top 10 under these circumstances. It showed his incredible tenacity,” said the GoEleven Ducati team manager. “Now we have a month off before we try to have a better weekend in Donington. “
