After a six-week break, the trio of Rahal Ducati Moto riders and their teams are preparing to begin their MotoAmerica Supersport championship journey.
Since the Daytona 200, the team has made several changes to prepare the Ducati Panigale V2s for regular-season competition. Additionally, the team has welcomed former Supersport champion and industry veteran Richard Alexander Jr. to the team as team manager.
The team heads to the 2.550-mile track just outside of Atlanta after a successful test at Barber Motorsports Park on Monday.
The trio of riders will take to the track for Practice and Qualifying 1 on Friday, followed by Qualifying 2 and Race 1 on Saturday, and a warm-up and Race 2 on Sunday.
QUOTE BOARD:
COREY ALEXANDER (No. 23 Roller Die + Forming Ducati Panigale V2): “I’m super excited for Road Atlanta. The anticipation since Daytona has been building up and I know the team has made a lot of really big changes to the bikes and the overall structure to make sure we have the best possible weapon to race with. I’m eager to see how the weekend plays out. Thanks to Graham and everyone at RDM for the huge effort the last several weeks to keep us competitive.”
PJ JACOBSEN (No. 15 XPEL Ducati Panigale V2): “Between myself and the team, we’re really looking forward to Road Atlanta. We are starting with a clean slate compared to Daytona – we learned a lot from that weekend. The team is preparing very well for this weekend – having been at Barber [Motorsports Park] for the track day and then straight to Atlanta for a few days has given us a chance to get to know each other and work closely with one another and the bikes. It’s going very well and I feel very confident with the team going into the start of the points season. I think it is going to be a great season, and we’ll see how the weekend goes with all the changes we have made. I like the Road Atlanta circuit and think we will have a strong package going into the race.”
KAYLA YAAKOV (No. 19 XPEL Ducati Panigale V2): “Road Atlanta has always been one of those tracks that I really enjoy going to – from the fan atmosphere to the racing, it’s a great track. Although I haven’t raced [at Road Atlanta] in over two years, the last MotoAmerica race that I raced there, is one where I was able to cross the line in first place. While the position inevitably was changed due to some post-race penalties, I know I have the pace at the track to win! After completing our final “pre-season” test, where we made major changes and improvements to the bikes, I am extremely excited and confident going into the first round of the Supersport championship!”
BEN SPIES (Team Principal): “We are looking forward to Road Atlanta this weekend. We’ve had a lot of changes with the team and the bikes over the last several weeks, so we feel like we’re headed in an upward trajectory and are able give our riders a good mechanical package, hopefully giving them more confidence as the season goes on and providing them with the best tools to take home hardware each event. Everybody likes Road Atlanta because it’s a good track, so it is a nice place to start the championship battle. Hopefully, we can have some great results and some good weather.”
