San Carlo Honda Gresini Team riders Alex De Angelis and Toni Elias make the transatlantic dash from Europe to the USA this week as the MotoGP World Championship circus continues apace, following up last Saturday's race at Assen, Holland, with a visit to Laguna Seca, California, this coming Sunday.

The pair, hailing from San Marino and Spain respectively, head into round eight of seventeen looking to improve on twelfth and fourteenth position in the overall championship standings following a disappointing start to a season that has been somewhat below expectations so far.

However, encouraging performances in the Dutch TT, where De Angelis solved rear traction problems and ran with the second group for much of the race and Elias fought back from last place to challenge for sixth in the final corner, have given them huge encouragement and motivation for the rest of the season.

"I am extremely motivated going into this race because we're finally finding the right way with the bike and working through our problems”, commented De Angelis. “We know that sometimes when you solve one problem you can create another and finding the ideal package isn't easy, but the point is that we are solving our biggest issue, which is rear traction, and that is important. I don't think anything more problematic than that is going to crop up! I love Laguna Seca, I went fast from the first day on my debut there last year and we know the tyres work well there too, so I am excited. The target is to get involved with that second group again but this time be fighting with them all the way to the final corner."

“I left the last race at Assen feeling frustrated with the result, having been relegated to twelfth by Race Direction for an aggressive move in the final corner, but even the eighth place I managed before the penalty was below our expectations”, said Elias. “Having said that I was encouraged by the performance and to have passed so many riders in the race gives me motivation and determination to continue where I left off at Laguna Seca. I'll receive another frame like the one that I like and that should allow us to work a bit more calmly and make quicker progress in adjusting the set-up. Our recent pace suggests that we're not far from making another step forward – not into the top four just yet but at least a little closer to them.”

The dry heat and unpredictable asphalt of the anti-clockwise Laguna Seca circuit should suit both riders, who have the loose and aggressive riding style necessary to tackle the dramatic elevation changes and fast, sweeping corners of the legendary circuit. The most famous of them is without doubt the ‘Corkscrew', a steep downhill left-right flip-flop that is often the scene of some of the most spectacular overtakes of the entire season.

© CAPSIS International