Assen awaits the Pull&Bear Aspar Team

2017-06-21 09:00
The Grand Prix of Qatar already seems like a distant memory as the 2017 MotoGP World Championship heads full speed towards the halfway point of the season, with back-to-back races in the Netherlands and Germany. For the second successive season the TT Circuit Assen, also known as the “Cathedral of Speed,” opens its gates on a Sunday rather than the traditional last Saturday in June, with Jack Miller's debut win in last year's crazy race still fresh in the memory. This year's championship has been no less unpredictable, with four winners already from the opening seven rounds and with Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso the man on form thanks to consecutive victories in Mugello and Barcelona. The quest to become the fifth winner gets underway an hour earlier than usual at 1pm local time on Sunday.

Álvaro Bautista arrives at Assen looking to repeat his recent performances in Italy and Catalunya. The Pull&Bear Aspar rider has two targets in mind: to rack up more points finishes and put his early season no-scores behind him, whilst returning to the battle for top five positions. His team-mate Karel Abraham heads into the eight round of the season feeling positive about the progress made alongside his technical staff during the last two rounds, which have seen him set a competitive pace and pick up two more important points for his season tally.



Álvaro Bautista:“In the Netherlands you always have to keep one eye on the track and one eye on the sky because the weather is very changeable and it can rain at any moment. The last two races have given the team a boost in morale, having finished fifth at Mugello and seventh in Barcelona after fighting at the front. It was important for us after the start of the season we have had. Let's see if we can keep this level of performance up this weekend and fight, as I set out to do at the start of the season, for a top five finish, which would be a great result. Assen was one of my favourite circuits up until they made the change and made the first section so tight. After that there is a fast section, where you need an agile motorcycle for all the changes of direction. Now we have back-to-back races where we need to maintain our level and keep picking up points.”

Karel Abraham: “I have good memories of Assen, from the old layout and the current one. It is a track I like, with flowing, fast corners. We go there feeling good after the two races in Mugello and Barcelona, where I think we took a big step forward, and now I feel even better on the bike, especially in terms of the front end. Everything is going well and I am determined to continue in the same way this weekend.”

Source: AsparTeam

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