Following the opening round of the season in the Qatar desert, the Ducati Team is set to arrive in the United States for the first of two rounds this year on US soil. The second event in the 2014 MotoGP championship season will be taking place this weekend at the ultra-modern Circuit of the Americas, the Austin (Texas) track that joined the MotoGP calendar twelve months ago.
The two Ducati Team riders began the MotoGP season at Losail with a fifth and a sixth place. Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow then took part in a two-day test last week at Jerez and, in spite of the bad weather, they were able to verify that the ‘full-factory’ electronics fitted to their Desmosedici GP14 after the Qatar round were working correctly.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04)
“We have to be happy and positive about the fact that we reduced the gap to the leaders by half in Qatar and confirmed the improvements we made in the tests. We know we’ve still got a long way to go however to be competitive and I think that some of the next few tracks will be difficult for us this year, starting with Austin, but that track is so nice and I am really looking forward to racing there again this weekend.”
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35)
“We are looking forward to the race at Austin, because it was a track I did well at last year. I’d never even tested there and we finished strong with a fourth place, so I’m really looking forward to riding the GP14 on this track. The guys worked 100% in Qatar after my crashes, I gave them a little bit of work to do! It was a disappointing race because of the electronics problem that we had, but it was good that we finished the race in sixth.”
The Circuit of The Americas
The circuit, designed by the famous German architect Hermann Tilke, is one of the most modern race structures in the world, and is situated near the city of Austin, the capital of the State of Texas. The track measures 5.513 km and can contain up to 120,000 spectators. The circuit, built in 2012, hosted its first MotoGP race last year in April. It contains a total of 20 curves (9 right and 11 left), goes in an anti-clockwise direction and its key features are a steep uphill section at the end of the main straight, followed by a tight left-hander.
Fastest lap: 2013 Marquez (Honda), 2’04.242 (159.7 km/h)
Circuit record: 2013 Marquez (Honda) 2’03.021 (161.328 km/h)
Race length: 21 laps (115.8 km)
Race start: 2 pm local time (GMT – 5)
2013 results
Podium: 1st Marquez (Honda), 2nd Pedrosa (Honda), 3rd Lorenzo (Yamaha)
Pole: Marquez (Honda) 2’03.021 (161.328 km/h)
Fastest lap: Marquez (Honda) 2’04.242 (159.743 km/h)
Ducati Team results at COTA
2013: 7th (Dovizioso)
Andrea Dovizioso
Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP14
Race number: 04
Age: 28 (born on 23 March 1986 in Forlimpopoli, Italy)
Residence: Forlì (Italy)
Races: 205 (107 x MotoGP, 49 x 250cc, 49 x 125cc)
First GP: 2001 Italian GP (125cc)
Wins: 10 (1 x MotoGP, 4 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)
First win: 2004 South African GP (125cc)
Poles: 14 (1 x MotoGP, 4 x 250cc, 9 x 125cc)
First pole: 2003 French GP (125cc)
World titles: 1 (1 x 125cc)
GP of the Americas
2013: grid 6th / race 7th
Cal Crutchlow
Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP14
Race number: 35
Age: 28 (born on 29 October 1985 in Coventry, UK)
Residence: Isle of Man
Races: 53
First GP: 2011 Qatar
Poles: 2
First pole: 2013 Assen TT
GP of the Americas
2013: grid 4th / race 4th
