Pedrosa, Stoner and Dovizioso face the Aragon Grand Prix with the aim to achieve victory. In Moto2, Marc Márquez will try to keep reducing the difference with the leader.
For the second time in its short history, the Motorland Aragón circuit will hold this weekend a Motorcycling World Championship round, just before the Continental Circus starts its tour around Asia and Australia. The Repsol riders will have their third “home” Grand Prix after the races in Jerez and Catalunya. Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso will look for another victory in MotoGP, while Marc Márquez, who will focus in reducing the difference with the overall standings leader, could achieve his third consecutive victory in Moto2.
Casey Stoner, leader of the MotoGP standings with a 35-point advantage, will try to repeat his win of last year at the Aragon track, the circuit awarded by the IRTA —teams and riders association— as the best 2010 Grand Prix. The Australian rider of the Repsol Honda Team is very consistent, as he was able to get on the podium in all the races he has finished —he has 11 consecutive podiums— and firmly leads the Motorcycling World Championship premiere category thanks to his seven victories in the 13 races already held.
His team mate Dani Pedrosa arrives to Motorland Aragon looking forward to compete after missing the last home Grand Prix —Catalunya—. After his second positions at Indianapolis and Misano, the Repsol rider will try to improve his position to get his third victory of the season. Andrea Dovizioso does not want to settle with the third overall position and will keep fighting for podiums that would help him get to the runner-up spot. The Italian of the Repsol Honda Team is having his best season in MotoGP and will try to get on the podium again after finishing fifth in the last two Grand Prix.
To get 145 points of 150 available in his first year in the class is not something all riders could do, but this is what Marc Márquez just did in Moto2. The Spanish rider is now only 23 points away from the overall leader, Germany’s Stefan Bradl, while six races ago the difference was 82. Márquez has mixed feelings about the Aragon track, as he achieved an amazing pole position last year in 125cc, but another rider hit him in the first corner. His last wins in Brno and San Marino are the best boost to face the next round with optimism.
Dani Pedrosa
“I have very good memories of the Grand Prix of Aragon, last year we started well and we had a good race. I’m satisfied with our performance in the past few weeks and I feel better every day. This week I’ve been able to rest and recover some energy and now I’m really looking forward to this race. People from all around Spain attend the Aragon GP and the atmosphere there is incredible. The circuit is spectacular and very technical, it combines fast and slow corners, some of them complicated and blind where you need to find points of reference outside the track. We need to set up the bike very well for this track and make the most of all the practice sessions. The data we have from last year can help us on this and it will be important to start in a good direction but we cannot relax. I’m excited to see the Spanish fans again after missing the Catalunya race and I hope the home support will give me an extra boost so that we can enjoy this race together”.
Andrea Dovizioso
“We arrive in Aragon third in the Championship looking to close the gap to Lorenzo in second, but also needing to defend from Dani in fourth. I like Motorland Aragon, the circuit is very nice and it’s fun to ride. The key characteristic is the downhill braking areas and it has some similarities to the Istanbul circuit with interesting corners and changes of direction. It’s not so fast but all in all I like to race there. Last year it was a new track so I think that with one year of experience we can be even more competitive. Last year I crashed on the very last lap while I was fighting with Ben Spies for 5th position, this year we arrive confident that we can have a strong race”.
Casey Stoner
“I’ve managed to rest since the hard race in Misano, where I was totally worn out. The hectic schedule we follow had drained me completely and I had no energy, nothing left to give, so I’ve enjoyed relaxing this past week and getting back to some training. The Aragon track is ok, it’s not one of my favourite circuits, I feel it could be a little faster. We ran well there last year, mainly due to the fact we took a big step in the set up on the bike. This year we arrive there with a totally different bike so we have a lot of things to learn in FP1, getting the gearbox set up right and a few other things in general. It will be interesting to go there on the Honda, Dani was competitive there last year and I think we can work well there also, and expect a good result. We’ll get there and see what we can do”.
Marc Márquez
“I am always happy to compete in front of the Spanish fans, so this weekend we arrive to the Aragon Grand Prix with a lot of motivation. It is a race we will face the same way as any other, but we know that the excess of motivation could also play against us. With the 125cc bike it went very well and we had very good practice sessions, but we were unlucky in the race. I hope that changes this year. It is a fast circuit —with the moto2 it can be a lot of fun— but it will be difficult to find the good set-up”.
