Nico Terol & Jordi Torres aim for strong showing at Austin

The MotoGP World Championship heads to the Hermann Tilke-designed Circuit of the Americas this weekend and that can only mean one thing: long straights, a wide track and a technical blend of tight and fast corners.

Just like Sepang and Motorland, COTA measures over five kilometres in length and represents a huge challenge for the riders and engineers alike, as they discovered on their first visit to the impressive facility in 2013. After kicking off their season in the desert on the outskirts of Doha, Qatar, the Moto2 World Championship riders head west across the Atlantic with Tito Rabat on top of the points standings but with any number of contenders capable of toppling him as the season progresses.

After starting from the front row last season before going on to take victory and set the lap record, MAPFRE Aspar rider Nico Terol heads into the second edition of the GP of the Americas as a leading candidate for the win.

Despite failing to finish the opening round of the season in Qatar due to a mechanical problem, Nico is relaxed and looking forward to making up for his disappointment at a circuit he loves.

His team-mate Jordi Torres is hoping to join him in the chase for honours at the front, having salvaged eighth place from a difficult weekend at Losail. The Spanish rider is keen to put on a much stronger showing this weekend and knows he can use Nico’s success from last season to his own benefit.

Nico Terol:
“Even though we had a tough weekend at Losail we found the feeling we were looking for in the race and I really enjoyed it. We made a change to the front fork that was really positive and we would have been fighting for a top ten finish if it wasn’t for a problem with the engine. I spent last week training hard at home and completed a fitness test that I was really happy with. I really like COTA and I am going there with my batteries fully charged and with plenty of motivation. The aim is to start strong from the first session and to be fighting for the win on Sunday, like I did last year. I am feeling relaxed because I know we have the set-up. It is a technical track with some twisty sections on some hard braking. That’s good for me because I am strong on the brakes. Everything went perfectly last year in Austin and I am sure we will have the same feeling this weekend.”

Jordi Torres:
“Looking at last year’s results, COTA is a circuit where we simply have to do well. Nico had a brilliant race and found a great set-up. It’s a fun track, especially some of the corners, but the down side for us is the long back straight, where we lose out a lot compared to the lighter riders. The corner onto the straight is also very tight so you need good acceleration but I am confident we can be competitive there, unlike Qatar where we really struggled to find a set-up. We will use the data from last season and if it doesn’t work we will go with Nico’s because it was good enough for him to win the race last year in Austin”.

Source: Aspar Media