Team Suzuki Press Office – June 23.
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales are looking forward to this weekend’s eighth round of the MotoGP™ World Championship at Assen in The Netherlands following positive results and three-days of intense testing in Barcelona-Catalunya and also Aragon Circuit in Spain.
After qualifying 1-2 on the grid at the Catalunya MotoGP race, both Spaniards are confident with their new GSX-RR engines that were introduced for the race on June the 14th, and they are positive that the excellent handling characteristics of the Suzuki GSX-RR chassis will suit the twisting TT Circuit of Assen, a venue known as ‘The Cathedral’ of motorcycling.
With its 12-right and six left-hand corners, the 4.5km Assen circuit is the only venue to have held a round of Motorcycle World Championship racing every year since its creation in 1949. The circuit was purpose-built for the Dutch TT in 1955. It is narrow, with rapid changes in direction and is surrounded by grass banks and grandstands, providing excellent viewing.
MotoGP practice starts at 09:55hrs local time (08:55GMT) on Thursday June 25th, with Friday’s Q1 beginning at 14:10hrs (13:10GMT). Saturday’s race gets underway at 14:00hrs (13:00GMT).
Aleix Espargaro:
“The Cathedral is one of my best tracks and I think that our machine will be very nice to ride here. The circuit is tight with lots of changes in direction, which is perfect for our machine thanks to its chassis and set-up. At Catalunya we had our first taste of how high we can be when we are ok; and being first and second on the grid was unbelievable and gave us an incredible boost. Of course we still need to work a lot to fill certain gaps. We still need to refine the new engine specs and to find even more effective set-ups, which is why we made the tests. I feel positive about Assen, we have a competitive package and the track is favourable, so let’s go and do our best.”
Maverick Viñales:
“The weekend in Barcelona was amazing for me. Not only did I get direct access to Q2, which was one of our first goals, but I also started from second place on the grid, with Aleix in first. Also I finished sixth in the race, which is the best result of the season so far and we were only at the seventh race. This means that our project is positive and I feel confident in achieving even better results in the next races. Assen is a demanding, but also very nice track and I think it will be good for our machines due to their characteristics. We also tested last week and that gave us a lot of information. For sure we will benefit from the tests and be even more competitive.”
