Elena Rosell to ride for QMMF Racing Team in 2012

Categories: News

Wednesday, 1 February 2012

Elena Rosell will dispute the 2012 Moto2™ World Championship on the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) Team along side team mate Australian Damian Cudlin. motogp.com caught up with the Spanish rider to discuss the career step and her expectations for the season.

Rosell is the first woman to contest the World Championship since German rider Katja Poensgen left the 250cc ranks in 2003, as well as the first Spanish woman to ever join the ranks in the Championship’s more than 60 year history.

Rosell made world news last year when she debuted in the Moto2 Championiship with the Aspar Team. Although at Assen she failed to qualify due to a crash, she was ranked thirty-third at the Aragon GP, becoming the first woman to contest and finish a Moto2 race. At Valencia GP she surprised the paddock with a 25th place finish after overtaking nine riders in the race, including the likes of Joan Olivé and Simone Corsi.

In an interview with motogp.com, the Moto2 rider shared her expectations for her upcoming World Championship adventure.

What are you feeling ahead of your first full season in the World Championship?

- "It's amazing; it’s something I have dreamed of for a long time and has now it is coming true. The truth is that we have spent a long time discussing this and now my place on the team has been confirmed. I’m happy that the negotiations are done."

How well do you know the team and your new team-mate, Damian Cudlin

- "I know the team from the CEV (Spanish Championship), they are quite familiar because most of them are from Spain. It’s a Qatari team that is run by Spanish members, and I think that works very well. I don’t know my new team-mate personally, but I suppose we still help each other out-he will help me anyway, as he has far more experience. I'm happy to start this new adventure."

How do think you will do in Moto2, a class that is known for its fierce competition?

- "Well, this year I aim to learn as much as possible, and as quickly as I can, because the grid is composed of high level riders and not so many with so little experience like me. It’s going to be difficult because I have to learn almost all the circuits and that will be hard. But hey, I'm ready for it and I think that with how determined I am we can address things as they come."

You've said that you see yourself not as a "female rider" but as a rider - but it’s clear that as the only female out there you will have a lot of attention,

- "Yes, since I started that has always been a topic, either positive or negative, and this year it will be as well. I have been fortunate to have many people supporting me, and there are always varying opinions, but these things don’t affect me negatively, you have to show up with your best and do the best you can, and that's how I think I will deal with things."

There are some women who have preceded you in the Championship, names like Taru Rinne, Tomoko Igata and Katja Poensgen. Do you know about their racing? Do you have a goal to go further than them?

- "I don’t know all about their racing, I know that Katja Poensgen scored points but… I don’t want to compare myself with them. I want to do my own work and as a rider, if my results are better and it helps other possible riders to use me as a reference, then all the better. I have to try to do the best I can for myself, for the sponsors that put their trust in me and for my team."

What is your strategy for the preseason and learning the Moriwaki MD 600?

- "Well, there is a test next week at Valencia, then one at Jerez, and then a last one again in Jerez. So I have some more track time yet. In fact, these days I’ve been on the track more than the entire last year with Suter in Moto2 (in CEV)."

Are you're recovered from your scapula injury?

- "Sometimes I still feel it a bit. We started training January 12, before that I couldn’t run or do basic workouts. Since then, I’ve tried to do supermoto and motocross each week. It still hurts a little sometimes because it’s in a place where several muscles merge, but I’m are strong enough, I'm doing preseason training like crazy. I always started the season with just the laps on the bike as practically the only training, and I think this preseason conditioning will help me."

Do you think you will be the first woman to score points in Moto2 or even the first one to make a podium finish?

- "Well, that's dreaming too much, I think. You have to be aware of your competitors, and mine are not as new as me, they have a lot more experience. It will be difficult, but that also make the results more valuable. I have to try to the best possible and on the circuits I know, we will see if I have any advantage of confidence or experience."

And maybe you will surprise us.

-"I hope!";/div>