POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders head to Mugello in good spirits
Nicky Hayden and Eugene Laverty travel to Tuscany on the back of strong results in the last race
The MotoGP World Championship makes its annual pilgrimage to Tuscany this weekend with Valentino Rossi leading the standings and the rejuvenated factory Ducati team looking to make it an extra special weekend for the passionate Italian fans. Mugello is a technical circuit, one of seven on the calendar to measure more than five kilometres in length and one of five to feature a kilometre-long straight. With its fast and flowing layout the key to Mugello is a combination of set-up and skill, qualities that have certainly not been lacking Jorge Lorenzo recently. The Spaniard has won the last two races and he will look to take the challenge to the home favourites this weekend.
The POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar Team travels to Tuscany on the back of its strongest weekend so far this season at Le Mans last time out. Nicky Hayden took victory in the Open class whilst Eugene Laverty picked up his first points in MotoGP, and both riders are highly motivated to build on those results at Mugello. The American is doubly determined to perform this weekend after missing this round last year with a hand injury, and after finding some set-up improvements in France two weeks ago his goal is to make further progress and stay in the chase for Open class wins. Whilst it might still be early days for his team-mate Eugene Laverty in MotoGP, there is no doubt that the Irishman is setting equally high goals in the medium term after also making good progress with his bike at Le Mans.
Nicky Hayden: “I always look forward to spending time in Italy and in my opinion this is one of the biggest rounds of the season. Mugello is incredible, in terms of the circuit layout and the atmosphere. It has one main straight and a lot of flowing corners, some faster than others but a lot in second gear. That makes it important to find a good set-up that gets you through the fast direction changes and the different kinds of corners that Mugello has. I missed racing in Italy last year because of the hand injury so I am doubly motivated and looking forward to getting started this Friday. There is always a magical atmosphere at this race but I think with Valentino leading the championship and the Ducatis in great form it will be a special weekend. My feeling with the bike finally started to come good at Le Mans so hopefully we can keep it up at Mugello. We need to be fully focused on making a strong start on Friday.”
Eugene Laverty: “Mugello is a real rider’s circuit and it’s impossible not to enjoy riding there. I tested a Superbike briefly at Mugello in 2012 and so I have a little experience of riding the circuit on a 1000cc machine. Le Mans was a very difficult weekend and so I’m keen to make amends in Mugello. My team-mate made a big step forward last time out having received a new swingarm and I hope to do the same once I receive the update. I scored my debut MotoGP points last time out and my aim is to continue this forward momentum and try to fight for an Open class victory soon.”