The MotoGP riders this week head to another circuit with an enormous potential for thrilling top speeds. At the new Circuit of the Americas they will have a 1200 metre home straight –the longest on the MotoGP calendar- on which to open the throttle of their powerful machines. Only a few riders tested at the US track during the winter, so it will be a surprise for most. Designed by Hermann Tilke, the Circuit of the Americas is one of a select group of tracks over 5km in length, and one of the few shared with Formula 1 -alongside Montmelo, Silverstone and Sepang. The USA now hosts three events, at the Circuit of the Americas, Laguna Seca and Indianapolis, placing the country second for most races behind Spain (with four). The recent race in Qatar's set the scene for what should be a fantastic season of action.
In almost a mirror image of last season, the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders were again the best CRT competitors at the opening round in Losail. Aleix Espargaró imposed himself on the CRT standings throughout the entire weekend, clocking similar times to the MotoGP riders in practice and qualifying. On the Sunday he finished as best CRT rider in the race. Randy De Puniet took longer to find a good feeling with his bike, but in the warm-up session he showed great improvement and in the first half of the race he was a tough rival for teammate Espargaró. The Frenchman finished as second best CRT rider. Both POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders head to Circuit of the Americas determined to continue as frontrunners.
Aleix Espargaró:
"I can’t wait to start the GP of the Americas, at a circuit that will be new to everyone –or at least for the CRT riders. I like the feeling of arriving at a new track, at which you must find your reference points. We will have to take it easy in the first practice to avoid any nasty surprises, but hopefully we can continue from where we left off at Qatar. I am very satisfied with the manner in which we started the championship. The only thing we could have improved was the start of the race. During the race I found it hard to match my times from practice. I believe that we must work with a full tank of fuel in order to match up the practice pace with that of the start of the race. We are only one GP into the season and we are already adapting well to the ART 2013, which is a good sign that we are doing things right.”
Randy De Puniet:
"I look forward to getting to the Circuit of the Americas and getting back riding again. I have seen footage of the F1 race there and it seems like a really interesting track. Riding there will be a new experience for everyone, except for the factory riders. All the CRT guys will be debuting there, so we will all start with the same conditions. In general I tend to be a rider who quickly adapts to any environment, so I am calm. I’m sure it will be an exciting weekend. In Qatar we started out a little lost, we struggled to find a good feel, but in the end we picked things up. Only a small mechanical problem prevented us from fighting with Aleix right up until the last lap. I hope that next weekend we can again fight to be the best CRT."
Power Electronics Aspar Press Release
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