Racing Team Germany presented their new team lineup for 2012 before the media and sponsors at the Sachsenring circuit on Saturday.
Racing Team Germany, which succeeded together with Sandro Cortese in 2011 to claim fourth place in the World Championship as a small private team, introduced their new team line up for 2012 over the weekend at the Sachsenring circuit. The outfit presented their new motorcycle, which uses a Honda engine, an FTR chassis and Öhlins for the suspension, and a new rider for the season, Frenchman Louis Rossi. The 22-year-old joins the team to venture into his fourth season in the World Championship in the category that is the successor to the 125cc class, Moto3.
The new technical crew for Rossi is composed of chief engineer Norman Rank, a former successful racer himself in the 250cc class in the German and European championships, team leader Dirk Heidolf, and Frohburger Dreieckrennen as a mechanic for the team. Steven Schwabe, who has worked together for several years with Norman Rank, and Stefan Glass round out the team.
The Moto3 rider Rossi climbed the stage to answer questions about his impressions after the first test and his goals for the 2012 season. "At first it wasn’t easy to find the right solution for the engine and suspension. Now I think we've made the right decision with FTR and Honda. We found a good package. Of course this was all new to me - the bike and the team, working with them everything was new. But I feel very comfortable with the people around me and I felt good on the bike. I was afraid that I would have problems with the engine braking, but in the end it turned out that the difference from the125cc category is not so big."
"My goal last year was to finish every race in the points, and I usually placed between the top 15 and top 10-twice we were in the top 10," Rossi continued. "I think it's better if we don’t set our goals too high. This year I am sure that we can improve race by race. In any case, the goal is be in the top 10 and the top 5 as quickly as possible, and perhaps at the end we can fight for the podium."
Team lead Dirk Heidolf is enthusiastic about the Frenchman, saying: "We have a rider who tries incredibly hard - he is a fighter and a worker. I am very optimistic that we can go as fast as possible and place in the single digits: meaning placing 7th, 8th and 9th…I don’t want to speak of podiums yet because it will be a tough season."
At the end of the 2012 team presentation, the issue arose as to who will ultimately occupy the second Moto3 spot on the grid. Heidolf responded by saying: "We're trying to do everything possible to fill the grid. The optimal solution would of course be Jonas Folger. First, however, the contractual issues need to be resolved with MZ. I hope that in the coming days we can decide which rider will be there."
source: MotoGP Official
