The MotoGP World Championship heads for new territory this weekend, the fabulous new Circuit of the Americas (COTA) racetrack outside Austin, Texas.
The Grand Prix of the Americas is the first of MotoGP‰Ûªs three visits to the USA this year, with Laguna Seca and Indianapolis following in July and August.
This is the first time in 65 years of motorcycle Grand Prix racing that the sport has visited the Lone Star state, so the event is eagerly anticipated. The circuit, which was greatly acclaimed when Formula 1 cars visited for the first time last November, has already proved a hit with the handful of MotoGP stars who visited the venue for a three-day test session last month.
The riders praised the new layout which includes a huge variety of challenges in its 3.426 miles (5.513km), from ultra-tight hairpin turns to fast, flowing sweepers and a 210mph (338km/h) back straight.
During that test session it was dazzling MotoGP rookie Marc Marquez aboard his Repsol Honda RC213V who led the way, proving that lack of experience on a 250-plus horsepower motorcycle need be no barrier to serious speed if you have the requisite talent. His fastest lap during those three days was a 1m 03.281s.
Two weeks ago Marquez lit up the thrilling Qatar Grand Prix season-opener, scoring a brilliant podium result in his debut race in the premier class.
Marquez‰Ûªs high-speed entry into bike racing‰Ûªs toughest category has been one of the biggest talking points of the new season and the reigning Moto2 World Champion will be aiming to, at the very least, repeat his third-place finish this Sunday.
‰ÛÏTo arrive on the podium in my first race was a dream come true, but now we must face the reality and focus on the job at hand." Marquez stated.
"I am looking forward to going to Austin. It will be interesting as we have already been there testing and we found a good base set-up. But we will see because it will be a different scenario with more rubber on the track and the conditions will change," he explained.
"We will concentrate on our work and our own agenda to prepare ourselves in the best possible way for the race.‰Û
