Team Suzuki Press Office – September 9.
The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli awaits the MotoGP™ riders for the 13th round of the 2015 World Championship this weekend.
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR goes to Italy with renewed enthusiasm and confidence, having tested there in July therefore collecting important data to exploit in the up-coming race.
The last round of the championship saw Aleix Espargarò and Maverick Viñales struggling a little to find the confidence they had in the first part of the season, where they constantly improved their performances. The last race at Silverstone saw them race their GSX-RR machines for the first time in wet conditions and showers that afflicted the race and warm-up on Sunday. That was extremely useful in collecting and gaining information about their machines and the race results were also solid.
Both Espargaro and Viñales had some positive testing at Misano, collecting useful information to prepare for the up-coming race and also increasing their knowledge about their machines' reactions to various settings tested.
The Misano circuit has recently been upgraded in terms of Tarmac, which gave the team very positive feedback from the test. The grip is expected to be more consistent and the renewed banking gave good feelings to the riders.
The circuit is still 4.2km (2.63 miles) long, with six left-hand corners and 10 right-hand, with the longest straight being 565m (1853.67 ft) in length. The surface itself is pretty much flat, without elevation changes, so fans can get the best view of the track action that creates a great atmosphere.
Close to the city of Rimini, the Misano Adriatico circuit was constructed in 1972 and has since undergone an array of modifications. A regular scene for Italian Grands Prix throughout the 80s and early 90s, Misano returned to the MotoGP calendar in 2007.
Aleix Espargaro:
“I'm expecting a good weekend in Misano. Lately my performances have not been as high as I expected because I couldn't find a proper feeling with the bike, but already at the last race at Silverstone my crew and I found a positive set-up that led me to a more confident feeling. This gives me positive enthusiasm for Misano, also because we came here for testing in July and I had a very good feeling with the bike. Not only the new Tarmac gives me more confidence, but also the different options that we tested in our set-up allowed me to better understand my GSX-RR's potential. Being new in the championship we usually don't have information and a basic set-up when we get to a new track, but here it will be different because we already have some basic ideas where to start from. I'm confident we can exploit this data and be on the pace immediately.”
Maverick Viñales:
“Honestly I can't wait to get back on my GSX-RR and especially in Misano. In the last events my confidence with the machine has increased race-after-race and now I would like to be always riding and therefore improving. Furthermore, we could test in Misano a couple of months ago and I had very positive feelings there. Now we can start from a basic set-up that we have developed and start improving from there. I have the feeling that my crew and I are making solid progress; this gives me the chance of being relaxed while working and I believe this will pay back in terms of performance. The circuit, with the new Tarmac, seems to have good pace in it and therefore I am excited to go racing this weekend.”
