Terol and Elias ready for Estoril challenge

The second of two back-to-back races in Spain and Portugal takes place this weekend as round three of the MotoGP World Championship takes place at the Estoril circuit on the west coast of Europe. Considered the ‘fifth home race’ for the armada of Spanish riders in the championship, their route across the border will be traced by thousands of fans who are sure to give MAPFRE pair Toni Elias and Nico Terol a huge boost at a circuit where they have both celebrated famous victories in the past.

Elias began his love affair with Estoril with a 125cc podium finish back in 2001 and continued it with victories for the following two years in the 250cc class as part of the team run by Jorge Martínez Aspar. His most famous win, however, came in the MotoGP class in 2006 when he overcame the legendary Valentino Rossi in a titanic battle to the line, taking the flag by just 0.002 seconds. Terol took his third win in a row at Estoril on his way to the 125cc title last year and he is determined to accelerate his adaptation to the bigger Moto2 class here this weekend.

Toni Elias: “I love Portugal. It’s a good track for me so we need to use that fact to work on our front-end problems with the bike and start running at the front. I have total faith in the team, we took a step forward at Jerez and we have a lot of ideas that we think can help us make more progress in the coming races.”

Nico Terol: “I won the race here at Estoril last year and scored only my second podium here in 2008. I like the track because it has a bit of everything. I have had a little rest and I am looking forward to working hard again this weekend. It is not about my position on the time sheets it is about working with my Suter machine and with my fantastic team, who I want to thank for their unwavering support.”

Source: Aspar Team