MOTOGP HEADS TO ENTICING TUSCANY FOR ROUND SIX
DRIVE M7 Aspar riders looking forward to a positive weekend at Mugello, one of their favourite circuits
The sixth round of the MotoGP World Championship takes place this weekend at one of the most famous circuits on the calendar as Mugello celebrates the fortieth anniversary of its construction. Over the years the Italian track, nestled deep in the Tuscan countryside, has established itself as a firm favourite of the riders and fans alike although at 5.245km it is also one of the longest and most challenging on the calendar. Until the introduction of Austin last year it boasted the longest straight in the championship (1.141km) and MotoGP bikes hit incredible top speeds in excess of 340km per hour. Marc Márquez crashed out of this race last season but the Spanish rider arrives at Mugello this year on the back of five straight wins from the five races so far with Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi – who celebrates his 300th GP in front of his home crowd – and Jorge Lorenzo all looking to put the brakes on the record breaking World Champion.
DRIVE M7 Aspar riders Nicky Hayden and Hiroshi Aoyama are looking forward to arriving at what they both describe fondly as one of their most favoured circuits on the calendar. The American and the Japanese have been on an upward curve since the start of the season as they work out how to get maximum performance from their new machines at each different circuit. The Italian Grand Prix represents another exciting opportunity for the DRIVE M7 Aspar Team to close the gap to the front and continue their exciting progression at the top level of international motorcycle racing.
Nicky Hayden: “Mugello is one of my favourite circuits, I love riding there and the races are always different – the atmosphere is incredible. The track itself is awesome, so are the fans, so overall it’s one of the best races of the season. Mugello is a technical track, it’s not easy at all, with a lot of blind corners and some bumps. I always have fun riding it though and I hope that continues this season. We will try to get the best out of our bike and tackle the circuit as best we can. I am looking forward to getting started and seeing how competitive we can be at Mugello. Hopefully we can have a good weekend and put the bad luck from the last race behind us. This is an incredible circuit so hopefully we can do a good job there for the team and the sponsors.”
Hiroshi Aoyama: “Mugello is one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar. It has some very technical corners and a long straight. But every time I ride the bike I feel more comfortable and I am highly motivated for this next race in Italy. I guess the long straight will not be good for us but on the other hand we have a great handling bike for the corners. Mugello is difficult but in general I love it. We will keep working in the same direction as the last few races to try and get the bike turning more. We are doing a great job here and the results are coming, but we would like to take that next step and start finishing races in higher positions.”