Bankia Aspar Team Aim To Continue Dominance At Le Mans
The MotoGP World Championship moves up another gear this weekend as the journey across Europe continues for the ‘Continental Circus’. Next stop is the world famous Le Mans circuit, home to the renowned 24 Hour race. It has been two weeks since the last round in Portugal but this is where the championship begins to gather pace, with no fewer than six races in eight weeks over the upcoming months of June and July. The 125cc class already has a clear leader at the top of the standings with Nico Terol having taken victory in each of the opening three rounds of the season. Faubel, Cortese, Folger and the rest of the challengers know they need to do something quickly to put the brakes on the BANKIA Aspar rider, who is showing no signs of slowing down.
Terol’s current advantage stands at 25 points, a race victory, over the rest of the field. The unbeaten Spaniard returns to the scene of his maiden career pole, which he set there last year, to celebrate his 100th Grand Prix – a remarkable tally considering he is still only 22 years old. His BANKIA Aspar team-mate Héctor Faubel is again hoping for a turnaround in fortune having crashed out in the latter stages of the last two races when fighting for the podium, whilst the third Valencian rider in the garage Adrián MartÃn is looking to build on an excellent ninth place last time out.
Nico Terol:
“To win the opening three rounds of the season is out of the ordinary and I never thought I could start the year like that. We have to enjoy our good form but also keep our feet on the ground because it has only just started. I am highly motivated ahead of the trip to Le Mans because it is a circuit that holds good memories, having set my first pole there last year. It is quite slow and has some twisty sections and you need good acceleration to get you out of the frequent heavy braking zones. The weather in France can be changeable so we have to be ready for anything. My objective is to fight for the victory again – it would be nice to celebrate my 100th Grand Prix with a win.”
Héctor Faubel:
“I am highly motivated for Le Mans; the last time I stepped on a podium was there in 2009 on the 250cc Honda so it is a good place to shake off the bad luck that has been following me around since Qatar. I rested up for a couple of days after Portugal because I was pretty beaten up after the crash there but I have been out cycling since and training hard. I have always trained on a mountain bike but I have recently switched to a road bike and it’s a lot of fun. I have also been watching the 125cc race from last year to prepare myself and now I am looking forward to getting there, throwing my leg over the bike and having fun. The podium has slipped through our fingers a couple of times this season already so let’s see if we have a little luck and get up there this Sunday.”
Adrián MartÃn:
“The work we did in Portugal was very positive and it was good to finish in the top ten. We also took a step forward with the bike and now we are much more clear about a lot of things so that will make things more straightforward at Le Mans. I had a good feeling at this track last year and I am sure it will be the same again this time. We will be giving it everything from the first session to make sure we have a good Grand Prix and follow the good line we found at Estoril to continue making improvements.”
Source: Aspar Media
