Jorge Martinez “Aspar” officially launches 2014 Moto2 & Moto3 squads
The MAPFRE Aspar Team today officially unveiled its line-up to contest the Moto2 and Moto3 World Championships in 2014, at a special event in the ‘Beneficencia’ centre of culture in Valencia. With a hard preseason of testing already under their belts Nico Terol, Jordi Torres and Juanfran Guevara are all ready to go racing now and they do so with the crucial backing of MAPFRE, marking eight years of a fruitful partnership with the Aspar Team.
Master of ceremony Nacho Santos got the event underway at around 8pm with a brief introduction before leading into a video presentation of the team’s best moments. He then welcomed onto the stage Juanfran Guevara, the MAPFRE Aspar Team’s new Moto3 rider, who was European Championship runner-up in 2012 and is now ready to tackle the world. Joining Juanfran on stage were the young men who took the top two spots on the podium in the final round of the 2013 season just down the road at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, the team’s Moto2 riders again for 2014 Nico Terol and Jordi Torres.
In their second season as MAPFRE Aspar teammates Nico and Jordi have valuable experience that they aim to use to propel them to even bigger successes this season and make their podiums and victories from 2013 a regular occurrence. After a few questions to the riders Nacho handed the microphone over to MAPFRE Aspar Team Director Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’, who took the opportunity to thank MAPFRE for their continued backing, whilst Jesús Martínez Castellanos, Director General of Business and Clients at MAPFRE Spain, was keen to highlight the ‘goals, plans and objectives’ that his company shares with the team. The ceremony was brought to a close with a speech by Alfonso Rus, President of the council of Valencia.
Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’:
“On behalf of the Aspar Team, to have MAPFRE as our main sponsor is a true privilege. We have been together for a long time now and I want to thank them for the faith they have shown in us over the past eight years. It is a great honour for our name to be linked to that of MAPFRE for another season. We share many of the same values, which has helped our relationship to flourish over time. This year our biggest hope is in Moto2, where I would like to see Nico Terol and Jordi Torres fully exploiting their potential to make sure we start this season as we finished the last one: winning. Without any shadow of doubt, our goal is to win the Moto2 World Championship. In Moto3 we have gone for a young rider who we have high hopes for and I think he can progress quickly within the MAPFRE Aspar Team. I am sure that Juanfran will give us plenty to celebrate this season.”
Jesús Martínez Castellanos:
“On behalf of MAPFRE we are reaffirming our commitment to the MotoGP World Championship alongside Jorge Martínez Aspar and his great team of riders and technicians, starting a new season with the same spirit and ambition for success as ever. Like any other large business we have goals, plans and objectives and just like the Aspar Team in the world of racing we put maximum effort in trying to achieve and to be an insurance company that is trusted the world over. We send our very best wishes to Nico Terol, Jordi Torres and Juanfran Guevara as they look to excite us all in the Moto2 and Moto3 World Championships, which we dare to say will once again be the two most exciting motorcycle racing series’ in the world.”
Nico Terol:
“I am delighted to be back here to be presented as part of the same team, with all these great people around us. I want to thank MAPFRE for their unconditional support for the eight season. It was an interesting event. Aesthetically speaking the bike looks better than ever, it looks aggressive and I like that – you need it in Moto2! We have had a few setbacks in preseason but it is better to have them now when there is nothing at stake. The objective now the season is starting is to be finishing at the front in every round, with the consistency that we lacked last year. If we can do that I am sure we will be in a strong position come the end of the year.”
Jordi Torres:
“It is a real treat for me to be back in the same team with the same sponsors. The fact we know each other so well and are all pulling in the same direction makes it easier to progress. The place, the people, the presence of MAPFRE… once again it has all made for a spectacular presentation. Thanks to MAPFRE we can once again compete on the best available material with the best possible technical staff. The goal this season is to be fighting to be at the front in every race and to try and be as consistent as possible. As always we will work hard to make our bike competitive and if we can do that part of the job right we can be at the front. We have the potential to do it and that’s what we’ll fight for.”
Juanfran Guevara:
“I am very motivated ahead of my first season together with the MAPFRE Aspar Team and Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’. It is a source of great pride for me to be racing for this famous team. We have done a great job during the preseason and our hopes for the season are high. For me it is a massive step up in terms of team and bike and I am very much looking forward to competing in Qatar. If we keep on working as we have done up to now I am sure the results will come quickly. I am in a leading, highly experienced team with the support of one of the best sponsors in the world in MAPFRE. To me that is something that brings great responsibility but also great pride.”
Source: Aspar Media
