Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Franco Morbidelli and Tom Lüthi are traveling this weekend to the United States, to Austin, to participate in the Grand Prix of the Americas, the third round of the 2018 MotoGP world championship.
With twenty turns, eleven left and nine right, the Circuit of the Americas is as physical as it is technical. It is also a track on which Morbidelli and Lüthi have obtained good results in Moto2 in the past.
Last year, on his way to the world champion title, the Italian won his third victory of the season in Texas. He was joined on the podium by the man who today became his teammate. Second in the Grand Prix of the Americas, Lüthi finished the Moto2 world championship in the same position.
Obviously, it will be a completely different experience for the two drivers of Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS this weekend. Rookies of the premier category, both will take their first laps in Austin this weekend with their Honda RC213V, a bike that has won the five MotoGP races that have so far been held in Texas.
Morbidelli and Lüthi will therefore continue their adaptation to the demands of the premier class on a circuit very different from those where they have so far raced, in Qatar and Argentina. Whatever happens, the two drivers of Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS will have no other objective this weekend than to finish the race in the points.
Franco Morbidelli:
“The Circuit of the Americas is a beautiful track with a beautiful environment and I can't wait to get back there to participate in the third race of the season. I still need to ride this Honda RC213V. I still have to work to better understand how to ride it and how to operate the tires. I still lack experience, and each race today is a new opportunity to perfect my learning. Physically, this circuit is demanding. It is also technical and finding a good base of settings fairly quickly will be very important. »
Tom Lüthi:
“The objective for me in Austin is clear: I want to start the weekend I finished the race in Argentina and thus continue to build on what I have learned. The more the experience grows, the more the feeling improves. My confidence in the bike and in the tires increases with each lap and I am very happy to be able to get back on the track very quickly. At the beginning, in Moto2, the Austin circuit was complicated for me, especially the first part with this very fast sequence where you have to throw the bike from one side then the other. I was handicapped by my arm injury in 2013. But last year I was able to do a good race after finding solutions and I hope it will be the same with the Honda RC213V. I'm sure this circuit must be fun with a MotoGP. »
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“Franco and Tom rode well in the first two races in Qatar and Argentina, but this weekend in Austin is likely to be a tougher test. This is the first circuit of the season that turns left, and compared to those we have just taken, it is also very technical. Finding an acceptable base of settings will initially be our priority. This will allow our two drivers to have maximum time to familiarize themselves with the circuit. »
