MotoGP Round 13: Aragon Grand Prix

[frostie]

The brand new Aragon circuit in Spain will play host to the thirteenth round of the 2010 MotoGP season this weekend, it is fitting in many ways that the MotoGP paddock can look to move on from the tragedy at Misano at this new facility.

With just six races to go time is running out for Dani Pedrosa to challenge Jorge Lorenzo. The Spanish duo has won all but one race this season and will start the race as favourites to continue their domination of the premier class this weekend. Lorenzo’s consistency has seen him yet to finish off the podium this season and having won twice in Spain already this season the FIAT Yamaha rider will be out to make it a hat-trick this weekend.

Lorenzo, like many of the riders has some experience of this new circuit having ridden the track on a road bike. The 23 year old comes to the race in a positive frame of mind and excited by the challenge of racing in front of his home fans once more.

"It's our third race in Spain but the first time at Aragón and I'm excited,” said the championship leader “I went to test there last month and it's an amazing track. The first corner reminds me of Turkey and there's a lot of up and down, it's a fun place. I hope lots of people but especially my fan club is coming because I think it will be a good weekend,” he said. “My aim is to get on the podium again and to push as hard as I can.”

While Lorenzo has won twice in Spain this season, Pedrosa comes to Aragon having won the last two races at Indianapolis and Misano. The diminutive Spaniard has had his most successful season of his premier class career and the former 125 and 250cc world champion comes to Spain as the form rider in the class on the back of his recent successes. Pedrosa will also know that if he is to challenge Lorenzo for the title it is imperative that he keeps winning and closing the point’s gap.

Speaking about his prospects for the weekend the 24 year old said, “It will be a challenge for everybody this weekend and we need to make the most of the practice. Our bike has been working well at very different circuits, so I hope we can also do a good job in Aragón. I’m really looking forward to this Grand Prix.”

While Pedrosa and Lorenzo will be the focal point for the Spanish crowd, Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi will be keen to end their victory droughts this weekend. Rossi, winner of the opening round of the season at Qatar, announced prior to coming to Spain that he will undergo shoulder surgery at the end of the season so it is clear that even with his injury enforced absence, after breaking his leg at Mugello, that the nine times world champion is still far from fully fit. Even so this weekend offers a great opportunity for the Italian to compete at the front.

Even after missing four races due to his broken leg the reigning title holder finds himself in fourth in the title chase, level on points with Stoner, and just nine behind Andrea Dovizioso. The season has been an obvious struggle for Rossi but with two podiums since his comeback he can feel satisfied that he is getting stronger each week as he gets ready for next season and a move to Ducati.

Stoner has struggled for much of the season to deal with the handling characteristics of his Ducati but a run of five consecutive podium finishes seemed to indicate that the 2007 world champion had turned a corner and gained confidence. The recent races at Indianapolis and Misano though show that finding the limits of the Ducati are still a struggle for the Australian.
Stoner crashed out of the race at Indy and could only finish fifth last time out at Misano, 18 seconds behind Pedrosa. The road to victory has been a struggle for the Bologna side this season and it is unlikely that this weekend will offer an end to the teams struggles.

Stoner said, “We’ll go into the weekend with optimism and hope that the track is good fun and well suited to the Ducati, although being realistic we know we face a tough job to find something extra. The team and all the engineers are doing a fantastic job so it is a case of giving my maximum and helping come up with something new to improve the feeling with the bike, to get it turning better and find some more grip. More than anything we want to put the last couple of weeks behind us."

Stoner’s teammate Nicky Hayden comes to Aragon looking to move on from a nightmare race at Misano. The American tangled with the Suzuki of Loris Capirossi on the opening lap and retired. While Hayden suffered from a bruised ego the Italian suffered more severe injuries and will be forced to miss this weekend’s race.

Capirossi needed surgery to reconstruct the bone in his little finger and reattach tendons, while Loris was confident that he would be able to ride this weekend he felt it better to err on the side of caution and not risk missing further races as the season, and his Suzuki tenure, come to a close. With Capirossi absent the onus for Suzuki falls on Alvaro Bautista. The young Spaniard has struggled at times this season but has grown into his role as a MotoGP rider in recent months and shown the ability that allowed him to dominate the 2006 125cc championship.

Bautista lacks nothing in speed or courage and his application has improved in recent races to such an extent that at the last race he was the rider chosen to use the new parts developed from the mid season test at Brno. Bautista has shown progress throughout the season but he has paled in comparison to another rookie, Ben Spies.

While Spies may have the best machinery of any rookie in MotoGP the American has made great use of his Tech 3 Yamaha and finished on the podium twice, and started from pole position. Spies will replace Valentino Rossi as a factory Yamaha rider next season but the reigning world superbikes champion will be keen to finish this season in strong fashion. One of his key skills is his ability to learn a race track in record time and that ability should pay off once more this weekend. With everyone starting from the same point Spies should be one of the favourites this weekend to challenge the dominance of the Spaniards in MotoGP.

While the MotoGP paddock will be keen to pay remembrance to Shoya Tomizawa this weekend the Moto2 teams and riders will surely feel the strain to a much greater degree. Tomizawa was a popular rider within the class and this weekend will undoubtedly be exceptionally tough on all the riders but particularly Scott Redding and Alex de Angelis.

Redding and de Angelis were the other riders involved in the fatal accident and both will look to move on in some way this weekend with solid finishes. For Redding especially this will be a crucial weekend, the young Englishman has been consistently on the pace in recent races and it will be of interest to many in the paddock to see how he reacts to the Misano accident. De Angelis has struggled at times in Moto2 due to machinery and financial issues and the San Marinese rider will look to the last six races as a chance to show that he deserves a top line ride for next season.

One of those riders belongs to Toni Elias. Elias holds a dominant 83 point title lead and after winning the last four races the Gresini rider knows that a first world title is within his grasp over the course of the next few races. Coming into the season with a reputation as a fast and fearless rider who lacked the consistency to win a title Elias has shown that his reputation may have been inaccurate. In the exceptionally competitive Moto2 class he has consistently been the pace setter and this weekend should prove no exception. Racing in front of a home crowd is sure to motivate the aggressive Spaniard to once more race at the front of the field.

Julian Simon has made the transition from 125cc world champion to Moto2 rider with great success and the Aspar rider will be keen to break his duck in the class this weekend and finally win a race. Since the mid season change to the Suter chassis the Spaniard has proven to be a revelation, and in recent races the closest challenger to Elias.

Andrea Iannone has shown a great turn of speed but the inconsistencies that have blighted his career have come to the fore once more for the Italian. He has had dominant victories this season, Mugello and Assen are probably the most impressive performances of any rider this season, but errors such as overtaking under yellow flags in Cataluña and his jump start at Misano have cost him any chance of challenging Elias for the title.

While Iannone has seen his inconstancies halt his title chances in the 125cc title chase Marc Marquez, Nico Terol and Pol Espargaro have both been models of consistency throughout the year. Just twenty points separate the trio in the title chase and while each has had their struggles throughout the season their battle for the championship looks set to go to the wire at the final round in Valencia.