It is just one of seven circuits on the calendar that measure longer than five kilometres, it has one of the longest straights at over a kilometre and with the old 125 machines the podium positions were usually decided on the finish line: it can only be Mugello. The Moto3 World Championship arrives in Italy this weekend for the fifth round of the season with the riders as always looking forward to tackling the sweeping corners and dramatic elevation changes of the Tuscan hills. Viñales, Salom, Rins and Folger have been the four names to dominate the championship so far and after a relatively dull race in inclement conditions at Le Mans the action is sure to crank up a notch this weekend.
MAPFRE Aspar rider Jonas Folger missed out on the podium at Le Mans despite leading the race in the early stages. So far the German has stood on the box just once this season despite finishing close to it in every other race, but he is looking to improve that ratio through typical hard work this weekend. His team-mate Eric Granado has a very different target as he looks to score his first points of the season, the MAPFRE Aspar Team rookie having employed some special training techniques this week as he aims to break his duck on Italian soil.
Jonas Folger:
“At Le Mans we did a good job and took a step forward in terms of the set-up but we were just out of luck in the race and missed out on the podium. Now at Mugello we have another chance to pick up a positive result. I love the circuit; it's fast and flowing and very technical. You have to really concentrate because when you get one corner wrong it affects the next one and so on. You need a stable and agile bike that is easy to turn in the fast direction changes but at the moment we are improving from race to race so I am sure we can be in the fight for the podium again like at Le Mans”.
Eric Granado:
“I raced at Mugello last year so I am looking forward to racing at a circuit I already know. I actually had my best result of the season in Moto2 last year and I really liked the track so I think we can do a good job this time. It is fast and has some flowing corners, similar in some ways to Jerez, and after spending the week in Alcoy training hard with Nico I am ready. We have been doing some long training sessions to try and get used to focusing hard for longer periods of time on the bike and I also watched over the race from last year. As far as the set-up of our bike is concerned we're doing a good job and I am sure we can be in the fight for points this weekend. I am going to be working very hard to that end.”
Mapfre Aspar Moto3 Press Release
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