Goethe feeling confident after Practice as he sets sights on battle for pole in Bahrain

Oliver Goethe was the one to beat in the opening session of the Sakhir weekend, as the MP Motorsport driver topped the timesheets of Free Practice in preparation for Qualifying.

The 20-year-old left it till the final moments of the 45-minute runout to complete a 1:47.789. His teammate, Richard Verschoor, crossed the line moments later but wound up second, 0.222s behind.

PRACTICE: Goethe leads MP Motorsport 1-2 in Sakhir

Reflecting on his performance, Goethe pleased by the result, but admitted he was a little bit surprised to find himself at the top of the leaderboard.

“It was a great session,” he started. “It's quite low grip with the heat, and the green track. When compared to the test, everyone was slower, but I feel like I adapted to it very well. I put a decent lap together which was good for P1.

“I was surprised to see P1 with that gap, but it's a nice surprise. When you are confident with the car, everything sort of comes together.

“It will be very different with the Option tyres and the cooler track temperatures, so it's a completely different story and we still have to focus for that.”

Talking through the run plan and how the car performed, Goethe gave a summary of how he and MP prepared for Qualifying.

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“We used two sets of the Hard tyre,” he said. “I think there were quite a lot of teams that use two sets of tyres.

“It's not completely comparable to everyone on the grid but compared to other drivers, and my teammate for instance who had another set, it looks good. So, I am still confident.

“The balance was pretty good. It's hard to know for sure with the low grip, but with this grip it's always going to be a bit all over the place for everyone. But the pace was not bad, so overall I am happy.”

Reflecting further on his own personal performance, Goethe added: “I think the pace has always been decent. In the final couple of rounds I did last year, and the test was not so bad.

“Melbourne was unfortunately a really messy weekend, but this practice session gives me the confidence that I can do it. So, I am definitely getting up to grips now with the team, with the car, with everything.”

PREVIEW: The paddock reconvenes for Round 2 at a familiar venue in Sakhir

Looking ahead to Qualifying, Goethe was asked if he was eyeing another push for P1. He replied: “I hope so, that's the goal. Like I said before it's going to be a completely different story for Quali. “It's still the best start we can do, so we've got the confidence , but it's going to be completely different. We have to stay focused, the weekend hasn't even started yet.”