Team Aspar explore Assen track with Olympic gold medalist
Members of the 125cc and 250cc Aspar Team had the honour to explore the Dutch track alongside bicycle racer and Olympic gold medalist Samuel Sanchez on Wednesday, even using the competition bicycles from Sanchez’ Euskaltel team.
The host of Spanish MotoGP competitors was completed by British Aspar rider Bradley Smith and former MotoGP champion Casey Stoner.
Two rounds around the track saw the Olympic champion giving some advice and also doing some mini battles with the team members.
Alvaro Bautista: “It has been very entertaining to ride alongside Samuel Sanchez. To be with an Olympic champion in a circuit like Assen is not something that you can do every day, so I enjoyed the experience a lot. He started to race for a moment and people stayed behind while ElÃas and me have stayed close to his rear wheel and that was fun. To meet so important people of the sport is always a pleasure. David Arroyo, also a cycling professional, is from my area and I have trained with him a few times, you realize immediately that they are at another physical level, it is incredible.”
Julian Simón: “It’s been great to share a couple of laps on the Assen track with Samuel Sanchez. He told us some secrets of the world of cycling and he let us ride his competition bike, it is super light! I like cycling, I do it pretty often to keep fit. I am happy to have had the opportunity to meet Samuel and to have a little chat with him.”
Bradley Smith: “I had a lot of fun, in the first lap Julian and I have attacked a little to give the afternoon some excitement. And riding alongside Samuel has been really incredible. I believe that it is very important to have to an Olympic champion between us, meaning to combine cycling and motobikes. Personally I would like to wish him the best of luck for his next races and simultaneously we will try and get a good result for him on Saturday.”
Sergio Gadea: “It has been a very rewarding experience to be able to ride next to an Olympic champion in a mythical circuit like this one. I’ve ridden those kind of bikes before, but these are totally different from anything I tried before. They are so light that it seems that you don’t really have anything under you. It’s been a great way to start this GP and we now have warmed up our engines.”
