After back-to-back flyaway races the MotoGP World Championship returns to more familiar ground this weekend as the European summer kicks off in earnest with the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. After an opening round that went very much to form in Qatar, the Moto2 class was back to its most unpredictable best in Texas, where Nico Terol picked up his first victory in the intermediate category. The MAPFRE Aspar rider now heads to his home Grand Prix in top form, leading a strong Spanish charge that also includes his team-mate Jordi Torres, not to mention the likes of Pol Espargaró, Tito Rabat and Julian Simón, who all have designs on local glory.
Terol remains on a high after his morale-boosting dominance of the inaugural Grand Prix of the Americas last week. He arrives in his home country lying second in the championship and with a clear target of being a consistent podium challenger for the remainder of the season. Torres is equally eager to get out on track in front of his family, friends and fans after suffering from a faulty tyre in Texas. Having been one of the men to beat in preseason testing at Jerez, Jordi is confident of kickstarting his season this weekend.
Nico Terol:
“It is taken some time for the win in Texas to sink in but I have been able to enjoy it at home with my family and friends. It has taken longer than we hoped to happen but sooner or later it had to happen. We have been doing a good job for a while now but hadn't managed to follow it up in a race. Now we have done that it gives me even more motivation to continue like this and my morale is sky high. The win last time out was reward for our hard work and now we have to work hard to maintain this level of performance. We know we can win races now so the target is to be on the podium every weekend. I am looking forward to going to Jerez, where I am sure we can be competitive again. We have a lot of dat from preseason, when we were on the pace.”
Jordi Torres:
“I am very excited about the second round of the season. We spent most of preseason there and I think we have a good set-up. We had plenty of time to try things in the winter so Friday will be a case of refining the set-up and hopefully setting a competitive pace from the start, which will be important. This is a big race for us. We need to make another step with the set-up and start to compete closer to the front. The fact we are starting out with a good base setting will help us a lot because we have a clear idea about what we need to do. I love the grip at Jerez in the dry and wet conditions and I can't wait to get out on track.”
Mapfre Aspar Moto2 Press Release
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