The fifth round of the MotoGP World Championship takes place in Italy this weekend with Dani Pedrosa (two), Marc Márquez and Jorge Lorenzo (one apiece) having shared the victory spoils so far. Now is the moment for Valentino Rossi to see if he can become the fourth winner of the season in his home Grand Prix. Mugello is one of the most legendary circuits on the calendar, twisting its way through a magical valley that hums to the beat of the tifosi on the most important weekend on the Italian motorcycling calendar.
POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders Aleix Espargaró and Randy De Puniet may be from Spain and France respectively but the Mugello round is one that they always look forward to, as much for the fast corners and elevation changes that make this track so special as their own happy memories of past races here. Aleix remains the man to beat in the CRT pack having again dominated with an iron fist in difficult conditions last time out at Le Mans. Randy enjoyed a fantastic weekend in his home Grand Prix up until an unfortunate crash in the race but he is hoping the progress he made during practice can be the springboard to an improved performance and a better result this weekend.
Aleix Espargaró:
“I am looking forward to racing at Mugello, a circuit I love. It is fast and not too dissimilar to Barcelona, which is my favourite track. It is one of the best tracks you can wish for on a MotoGP bike because it is long, wide, with all kinds of corners and a lot of grip. Practice went well for us here last year and we were quite close to the factory bikes but I ran off track in the race, lost a lot of time and was unable to catch up with my team-mate. I didn't manage to finish as the top CRT at Le Mans last year I either but this year we turned it around so let's see if we can do it again. Hopefully I can continue to dominate in CRT. I always enjoy coming to Mugello and I hope we take more good memories from this season. It sounds like they have had a lot of rain there lately so hopefully we get some good weather and enjoy another fantastic weekend.”
Randy De Puniet:
“We finally managed to get a feel for the bike at Le Mans and after working hard during the first three rounds of the season I felt competitive again. It was just a shame that I had a problem with my helmet and I ended up crashing so we couldn't round off a positive weekend at my home Grand Prix. Now I am already looking forward to Mugello, a circuit I love and have a lot of good memories from. Last year I finished as the top CRT here and now I go full of confidence on the back of a good weekend last time out, even though it didn't finish with the right result. Now I am sure we can pick up in the right way in Italy and have another good weekend.”
Power Electronics Aspar Press Release
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