MOTOGP BACK ON THE TRACK AT THE ASSEN CIRCUIT
APRILIA IN HOLLAND TO CONFIRM THE IMPROVEMENT SEEN AT BARCELONA
The 4,542 metres of the TT Circuit Assen will mark MotoGP’s return to the track for the eighth round of the 2016 Championship season. A historic track, the only one to have hosted a Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing round every year since 1949, modified several times over the years but always capable of providing an exciting show. This weekend will be the first time the races are held on Sunday instead of Saturday as they traditionally have been in the past.
Aprilia will be going to Holland after a positive weekend in Barcelona, validated by Alvaro Bautista’s excellent eighth place finish and Stefan Bradl’s finish in the points. It was a result built on the progress shown by the Aprilia RS-GP and the hard work in the garage by the entire Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, especially in terms of the bike setup that helped the riders manage the tyres in the second half of the Catalunya race.
ROMANO ALBESIANO – APRILIA RACING MANAGER
“We had a good feeling on the track at Assen already last year and now we are arriving with a completely new bike that will be on this track for the first time, but we intend to resume with that feeling to build another good weekend. Looking at what happened in Barcelona, we need to concentrate on improving our performance in qualifying most of all so that we can take the best possible advantage of the race pace that we have demonstrated. Moving up a few positions on the starting grid would make our goal easier to achieve, which is still to battle for a top 10 finish”.
FAUSTO GRESINI – TEAM MANAGER
“At Barcelona the entire team worked very well in view of the race. This was a commitment that allowed us to achieve an important result, with Alvaro managing to pull off a great comeback and Stefan in the points again. This is a result that gives us confidence in view of the important round at Assen, where in any case we hope to be able to take a significant step forward in terms of the RS-GP’s overall performance, even in the practice sessions”.
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“Assen is a very particular track where the first, slow part alternates with a second, fast part and a lot of direction changes. It is always hard to find a setting that lets you go fast in both situations. After our performance at Barcelona, where we worked well, we hope that we can do it again, even improving on the flying lap in qualifying. It will be a new track for the RS-GP and we need to keep working with the usual goal: a top 10 finish”.
STEFAN BRADL
“After a break we are back on the track at Assen, where last year I crashed but today the feeling is completely different and I can’t wait to get out there on a rather particular track. The last two tracks, Barcelona and Mugello, were fast and flowing, whereas in Holland it takes a different setup. I like the track and there will be a lot of German fans coming out to see us. Hopefully we’ll have good weather. The goal is to exploit the characteristics of our RS-GP as best we can”.
