MotoGP Preview: Aragon Grand Prix – Can Anyone Stop Marquez?

The MotoGP World Championship heads back to Spain for Round 14 of the 2019 season. Last weekend it was the home race of Valentino Rossi, this weekend, MotoGP heads to Marc Marquez’s home round.

2019 marks the 10th anniversary of Motorland Aragon being a part of the MotoGP circus. It was brought in as a late replacement for the ill-fated Balatonring in Hungry, which was supposed to be on the 2009 calendar but was then delayed until 2010 but after the FIM discovered the track wouldn’t be ready, it was cancelled. Then in comes Aragon. A circuit that has a mixture between fast and slow turns, huge amount of undulation and a straight that is over 1km in length.

The circuit provides a challenge unlike any other. A compromise in bike setting must be made, as the rider needs the turning capability to get through the turns. A contrast between fast and long corners are met with short and slow corners, this means your bike must turn on a dial. The run onto the back straight is met with a sharp right-hand corner proceeding it. Acceleration is crucial because whoever gets off that turn the best will have the advantage down the back-straight. This could be the difference between winning or losing on a last lap showdown.

Who Is In The Best Shape?

Marc Marquez comes into this weekend as the rider to beat, as he has been on so many occasions in 2019. He picked up his 7th win of the season last time out beating rookie sensation Fabio Quartararo in a last lap duel.

Marquez has won 4 of the 6 premier class races that he has competed in at Motorland Aragon. He won the Moto2 race in 2011, it is a circuit in which Marquez has had a lot of success and to beat him is a mighty but not impossible challenge.

So why is Marquez so good around Aragon? Well, Marquez has an ability to find even more pace than usual on circuits that are predominantly left hand circuits. With 10 left hand corners and only 7 right hand corners, Marquez comes into his element with his background of going only left when he trains on dirt track.

This is more noticeable through long left hand corners where the bike is banked over for long periods of time, the rider has to modulate the throttle to control the slide of the bike. What dirt tracking teaches Marquez is how to control the bike mid-corner when the front and rear tyres are sliding. He can keep this under control by playing with the throttle, which helps the bike turn. By opening the throttle by the slightest of margins, Marquez can use the rear of the bike to help it turn through the corner. Marquez is already Superhuman and with his training on left hand dirt tracks, his natural ability is to go left and this is where he becomes an even greater force.

Can Anyone Beat Him?

The strongest competition to Marquez should come from Ducati. The Bologna factory had a torrid time in Misano, Dovizioso claiming the best result for a Ducati rider with 6th. Dovizioso claimed 2nd place behind Marquez last season, after he was embroiled in an epic scrap with the Repsol Honda rider and the two Suzuki’s of Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins.

Prior to 2018 – Dovizioso had only been on the podium at Aragon once, when he raced for the Tech3 Yamaha squad in 2012. The Aragon circuit should suit the Ducati more so than Misano did. The issue that Ducati had was that due to the Misano circuit being sand blasted at the beginning of the year, it ripped up all the rubber on the track and it left the surface with low grip (which will take about six months to regain) this meant that all Ducati riders suffered more than most.

Suzuki Could Spring  A Surprise

“Last year we did well in Aragon, but you never really know because things can change from year to year. However, I think we can do well at this track. It’s a sort of home circuit for Alex and he is feeling very motivated, especially as he wants to put Misano behind him.” – Davide Brivio

Suzuki were another manufacturer to have been hampered with the low grip surface at Misano. The Hamamatsu marque has had a steller season with Alex Rins picking up two wins in 2019 to date. A year ago at Aragon, Suzuki had one of their best weekend, both Iannone and Rins battling with Dovizioso and Marquez until the dying stages of the race before the the Honda and Ducati riders eased away. This season the Suzuki is a better bike, it has kept the near perfect handling that is always has had but this season it has improved on its weaknesses, acceleration and stability under braking.

Suzuki Team Manger Davide Brivio is confident that the showing from last year can be improved in 2019 – “Last year we did well in Aragon, but you never really know because things can change from year to year. However, I think we can do well at this track. It’s a sort of home circuit for Alex and he is feeling very motivated, especially as he wants to put Misano behind him.” Misano was blip in what has been a very promising season for the squad and we could potentially see another last lap showdown between Marqez and Rins like we saw at Silverstone.

What Can Yamaha Do?

“We expect that this weekend will require hard work and we are very interested to see if the steps forward that we took in Misano will also work very well here.” – Masimo Meregalli

Four Yamaha’s finished inside the top 5 at Misano a week ago, however they will see Aragon to be a much tougher prospect. Yamaha have made strides in recent races with their M1 machine, this has allowed Vinales to take victory at Assen, along with three further podiums since the Dutch round. Although Rossi hasn’t been on the podium since the Circuit of the Americas but he has placed 4th in the last 3 races.

Yamaha has increased it’s efforts this season and they are now bearing the fruit of their efforts. Not only that development has been increased with a new European testing team, with Jonas Folger doing the testing duties. This has seen new parts been trialled at the most recent Misano test and Rossi testing numerous parts during the Misano weekend, including a front wheel guard – for front brake cooling – and a twin exhaust, like the on we have seen on the Suzuki’s.

Aragon proved tough for the Japanese factory in 2018, Rossi coming across the line has top Yamaha in 8th, over 15 seconds behind the winner. “We expect that this weekend will require hard work and we are very interested to see if the steps forward that we took in Misano will also work very well here.” The parts tested at Misano proved to be a step forward and it could see Yamaha challenge for the win and possibly taking their first win at the circuit since Jorge Lorenzo done the double in 2014/15.

Fabio Quartararo on the Petronas Yamaha SRT just lost out on the win to Marquez at Misano. The young Frenchman is turning heads in the 2019 season and he once again could be Yamaha’s best prospect this weekend.

Zarco Out – Kallio In

Double Moto2 Champion Johann Zarco has been replaced with immediate effect for the rest of the season. The Frenchman has struggled to get to grips with the KTM RC16 bike and asked KTM to get out of his two-year contract at the of the season. With improvements to the machine, KTM have taken the decison to replace Zarco with their test rider Mika Kallio.

Kallio is a favourite among the team and the former, 125cc, 250cc and Moto2 race winner could be in the running to race alongside Pol Espargaro in 2020. Where Zarco goes isn’t confirmed but the rumours are that he will take up a year of testing (possibly Yamaha) and look to return in 2021.

Moto2

Alex Marquez heads into his home round 26 points ahead of surprise challenger Agusto Fernandez on the Sito Pons Kalex. The Spaniard has taken victory in the previous two races at Silverstone and Misano.

Fernandez will be looking to continue his run of victories and move closer to Marquez in the standings. A win this weekend will put him less than a race win behind the MarcVDS rider.

Sam Lowes is the only rider on the current grid that has taken victory at Aragon in any previous season. Picking up the win for his Gresini Team in 2016, his last win to date.

Moto3

Tatsuki Suzuki’s emotional first race win in Moto3 for the SIC58 Squadra Corse team last time out, see’s the popular Japanese rider propel himself up to 9th in the standings. He became the 10th different winner of the season from 13 races. That is the most wins that the lightweight class (as it’s known) has seen since it’s Grand Prix inception back in 1949.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta now leads the championship by 22 points ahead of Aron Canet after the Spaniard crashed out of the race in Misano.

Romanao Fenati is the only rider on the current grid to have picked up a victory in the Moto3 class around Aragon. Claiming victory for the Sky VR46 team in 2014.

The Weekend

The MotoGP race will start an hour ahead of it’s normal time. It will start at 12:00 CET – that’s 13:00 in the United Kingdom. This is to prevent a clash with the Singapore Grand Prix. The Moto3 race will get underway at 11:20 and the Moto2 race will follow the MotoGP race.