The Circuit of the Americas—the first of three American tracks on the 2013 MotoGP calendar—today added its first page to the championship’s history book.
Like most of the riders, the Pramac Racing Team racers approached this challenging day, which featured the traditional first two free-practice sessions, by endeavoring to learn the correct lines and to get up to pace on the unfamiliar circuit.
The windy conditions and the slippery asphalt made the task more difficult, but the team was prepared.
Unfortunately, Andrea Iannone suffered significantly from the lack of grip, which prevented him from confidently riding this new circuit and made it more difficult for him to learn the proper lines. Tomorrow will be an important opportunity to accumulate as much data as possible in order to be as prepared as possible for the race on Sunday.
Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team
“Today was quite difficult. I had trouble finding the right feeling with the bike, and I don’t have the confidence to push hard. I feel the bike sliding, and I feel hesitant. Anyway, I’m optimistic for tomorrow, which will be very important for us. Despite everything, I like the entire track and I hope to get closer to the other Ducati riders, as I’ve always managed to do before.”
Some positive changes were made to the bike of the Ignite Pramac Racing Team rider Ben Spies, and although the Texan’s shoulder still isn’t completely fit, he managed to set a time of 2:12.813 at the end of the first session, and to improve that by over six seconds at the end of FP2. The laps he did at the circuit last month, though not aboard a MotoGP bike, proved helpful.
Ben Spies – Ignite Pramac Racing Team
“It was a good day. We changed the bike quite a bit in the second session, and I got the feel of it and closed the gap to the factory Ducatis. I got some laps in, and now we’ve got some good data to look at. We’ll try to take another couple of steps for tomorrow if the track gets better, and just keep closing the gap to the front guys.”
Pramac Racing Team Press Release
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