Bel-Ray Weekend Racing Preview- September 28, 2012
Bel-Ray professional racers are in action again this weekend as the MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3 World Championship series continues in Spain at the Motorland Circuit for the Gran Premio de Aragon.
MotoGP
In MotoGP class racing, the Bel-Ray sponsored Power Electronics Aspar duo of Randy DePuniet and Aleix Espargaro have been fighting a battle each event to see who will be the top CRT racer in the 2012 series. Coming into this weekend, DePuniet holds a slim three-point lead over his teammate. There are only four rounds remaining after this weekend, so each point gained is important to the racers.
Both DePuniet and Espargaro are fond of the Motoland track and despite a rainy weekend forecast, they are optimistic of good finishes. "Motorland is a fast circuit with some steep hills and I find it interesting to ride,” said DePuniet in an interview prior to the weekend. “I have always had a good feeling there although never managed great results. Hopefully this weekend the result matches the feeling! We want to continue to be the reference point in CRT.”
Espargaro also spoke about the race track and his feelings prior to the event. "Motorland is a track I really like, especially with all the elevation changes. I have good memories of the year I raced there in Moto2 and after slipping up at Misano we need another good weekend now to get the better of Randy any way we can. It has been an interesting battle between us all year and now we have to push hard in the final sprint.”
Moto2
Both racers on the Bel-Ray backed Mapfre Aspar Moto2 team come to Motorland with high hopes of excellent finishes. Nico Terol has won here in the past aboard a 125cc machine while Jordi Torres won in Aragon earlier this season in a Spanish championship event. After suffering from disappointing results at the previous round in Misano, both racers are looking for redemption this weekend.
“It (Motorland) is a wide circuit with fast and flowing corners and usually I go well there,” said Terol early this week as he was preparing for the upcoming race. “The track is grippy and you can get leaned over and open the gas without too much fear of the bike sliding. Whenever I rode there on the 125, I felt good and I'm sure it will be the same with the Moto2. I feel very prepared for the third home race of the season and the end of the season in general. Motivation is high."
Torres also spoke about this weekend, competing on a track he is very familiar with. "I am really happy to be competing in the Aragon GP, a home race. I spent last week training hard for it and spent a lot of time on the bicycle trying to lose the odd kilo so that I'm at less of a disadvantage compared to my rivals. It would be nice to be up in the top positions from the start this weekend because I know the track. I hope we can find a good set-up from early on so I can focus on finding the time in my riding. The good thing about knowing the track is that I don't have to waste time during practice finding my reference points, just riding. It is a long and demanding circuit and we'll have to stay focused in order to not make mistakes."
Moto3
The Mapfre Aspar Moto3 team will have a new look this weekend with the addition of a new racer on the Bel-Ray sponsored machine. German racer Luca Amato will join the team for the remainder of the season replacing Hector Faubel who recently left the team. Amato has experienced success at Motorland as recently as this past May, when he won a Spanish Championship event at the circuit. He joins fellow countryman Jonas Folger on the Spanish Aspar team. Folger joined the team only three races ago and has experienced great success with a victory. A third place and a sixth place finish are his previous three races for the team.
The sixteen-year old sensation Amato will be making his Grand Prix debut this weekend, an exciting step in the young racer's career. He spoke about his goals and the experience coming into the weekend. "I am really looking forward to getting to Motorland and making my debut in the World Championship. I am working really hard to be as prepared as I possibly can for this really important weekend. I will try to adapt as quickly as possible to the team and get a good feeling for the bike from the start. Motorland is a fast circuit with a lot of left-hand corners and personally I like that. I still don't know how the weekend will go but I just hope to learn as much as possible about the bike and get used to the team quickly. I will do my best to make the team proud and I can't wait for the GP of Aragón to get started."
Folger also spoke about his fondness for the circuit and his experience with the team thus far this season. "I love Motorland because of the elevation changes. It is a difficult and demanding circuit and that's why I like it. We were close to the podium at Misano and I'd like to get back there this Sunday. We were just a second off and I know that if we keep working as we have done up to now we'll have a chance at Aragón. We have to work hard on our race pace in practice and then come up with a good strategy for Sunday because as we have seen in recent weeks everybody pushes to the very finish in Moto3. As far as bike set-up is concerned we took a big step forward with the front end at Misano so we'll try and maintain this progress."
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