Cardion AB MotoGP Team Debuts

The Cardion AB race team pulled the covers off its Ducati Desmosedici GP11 and introduced its rider Karel Abraham. Marco Grana will serve as crew chief for the team which also includes track engineer Cristhian Pupulin, telemetry Dario Massarin and parts technician Michele Bubbolini from Ducati.

The 21-year-old Abraham is the first Czech racer to enter the MotoGP class. His appointment to the premiere class raised some eyebrows when it was announced last July. Abrahams father, Karel Abraham Sr., owns the team as well as the Brno circuit which hosts the Czech Republic Grand Prix while Abraham Jr.s career numbers were not very impressive.

Abraham Jr. showed flashes of potential in the 2010 season racing in the Moto2 class. Abraham Jr. finished 10th in the final standings earning his first two podium results in any Grand Prix class, including his first victory at the season finale in Valencia, Spain.

Karel proved that he is a very fast rider. He has a huge potential to do well right from the start of the season, says Grana. Next year there will be a lot of fast riders in the premier class so it is clear that the competition will be huge. But in Valencia we showed what we are able to do.

Abraham continued to impress at the post-season MotoGP test, finishing just 1.727 seconds behind the fastest rider, Jorge Lorenzo.

Compared to the last year, rookies (Alvaro) Bautista and (Hector) Barbera were three seconds slower than the fastest riders, says Abraham Sr. Karel lost only 1.7 seconds although Lorenzo was as fast as he was during the race weekend.

Abraham Jr. will get a chance to ride the Desmosedici again at the Sepang test in Malaysia in February.

For more pictures, visit our Cardion AB gallery.

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