Marc Márquez claims the Aragón Sprint with the Ducati Lenovo Team. Francesco Bagnaia eleventh. 

• Marc remains undefeated in the Aragón Sprint at this track since the introduction of the format, with three wins out of three races, all aboard a Ducati. With his twentieth victory in the Saturday race, he becomes the rider with the most Sprint wins and moves up to third in the standings
• Alex Márquez is second with the Ducati of Gresini Racing MotoGP

 

The Ducati Lenovo Team took victory in the Sprint contested at MotorLand Aragón courtesy of Marc Márquez, who was uncatchable aboard the Desmosedici GP at the Spanish track. Francesco Bagnaia was eleventh at the end of the 11-lap encounter.

Márquez, starting from the middle slot of the front row, overtook Bezzecchi at turn one and pulled away immediately, controlling the race lap after lap up to the chequered flag. Bagnaia, eighth on the grid, kept his position at the start but ended up losing a few places in the middle part of the race, ultimately finishing eleventh.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back on track tomorrow morning at 9:40 local time (GMT +2) for the warm up, which will be followed by the Grand Prix of Aragón, to be contested over a 23-lap distance from 14:00.

 

Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st: “As soon as I saw Marco putting on the soft tyre, I understood that the only viable strategy was to attack at turn one. The medium option needs a bit more time to get up to temperature, and that would have allowed him to pull away in the early laps. We had no other choice but to use the medium tyre, which still works well and is very consistent. My start wasn’t the best as the bike was wheeling a bit, but I still gave it a shot and it worked. Then I more or less kept the same pace as in Practice, while tomorrow’s race will be hotter and the track may get a bit more slippery.”

 

 

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 11th: “Today things went better compared to yesterday. This morning, we managed to improve some areas on the bike and qualifying wasn’t bad. I was surely expecting a bit more, but for the first time this weekend I was able to actually have some feeling with the bike. We simply need to keep working. The pace in the morning wasn’t bad and surely better than the one I had in the Sprint. We need to understand – ahead of tomorrow’s race – the reason why things changed, because this afternoon I struggled with traction.”

 

 

 

 

FERMIN ALDEGUER 6º
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alex Marquez: “I’m happy with this podium. Everyone was expecting a battle between Marc and Marco, and in the end we managed to get ourselves into the fight. It’s perfectly in my style: staying in the shadows before trying to step into the spotlight. We managed to do that today, but tomorrow will be a completely different story. I’m convinced that Bezzecchi has something more over the full race distance, as does Marc. We are still struggling badly in Sector 3, although things improved a little in the race today. We’ll try something in the warm-up and see whether we can be in the fight for victory tomorrow.”

 

 

 

 

Fermín Aldeguer: “We got something wrong in qualifying this morning, and starting from 11th position was obviously a problem. In the Sprint, we knew we had good pace on the medium tyre. Perhaps I was a little too cautious at the beginning, but I didn’t want to make any mistakes. We were quick and set a great lap time on the final lap. Tomorrow, we’ll try to make up some positions right from the start and then repeat today’s performance.”

 

 

 

 

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Aprilia Racing’s sprint race at MotorLand Aragón ended with both factory riders in the top five.

Marco Bezzecchi was protagonist of the qualifying, taking pole position and setting the new all-time lap record during the session, not once, but twice, stopping the clock at 1’44.962, the only rider on the starting grid to drop below 1’45. The Italian rider than rode a convincing sprint race, finishing third. Thanks to this result, Aprilia Racing takes their first podium in an Aragón sprint race.

After starting from fifth place, Jorge Martín rode a fiercely fought sprint race in the initial stages, finishing fifth at the end of the eleven laps.

 

 

 

 

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Bruising Sprint for recovering Mir and Marini.

 

The temperature and pressure of the Grand Prix of Aragon continuing to build, the Honda HRC Castrol team began the day with justified optimism after a busy evening of analysis. 11th and 14th respectively in Free Practice 2, Luca Marini and Joan Mir were content with the work Honda HRC’s engineers and their mechanics had discovered and improved overnight.

Making a significant improvement to his fastest lap time from Friday, Joan Mir was in the mix for the transfer spots in Q1 but a tricky third sector hid the final tenths he needed to crack the top 12. Mir’s day would be further complicated by contact at Turn 3 on the first lap, the #36 getting sent off the circuit and dropping to the very back of the field. Putting his head down, Mir was able to work his way back up to 16th and complete the Sprint to collect important information for Sunday’s full-length Grand Prix.

Despite only being three tenths from the top two in Q1, Luca Marini started the Sprint in 18th on the grid as just over half a second split 10 of the 12 riders in Q1. Looking to gain ground early, the Italian started quickly but suffered a heavy fall between turns five and six on the opening lap. Marini reported some discomfort after the fall and will focus on rest and recovery to be as prepared as possible for the 23-lap Aragon Grand Prix on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

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In the Sprint of the Aragon GP, Fabio Di Giannantonio crashes on the second lap, while Franco Morbidelli is eighteenth.

Bad luck affected the Saturday of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team at MotorLand Aragon: in the Sprint, Fabio Di Giannantonio crashed – with no physical consequences – in the first stages. Franco Morbidelli crossed the finish line in eighteenth place.

After earning the seventh place in Qualifying (1’45”615), Di Giannantonio had a good start from the third row which allowed him to immediately slot into the large group battling for the podium. Fabio lost a place, but he couldn’t recover and show his good pace as he crashed on the second lap while he was eighth. Now, Di Giannantonio is fifth in the World Standing with 199 points.

Morbidelli started his Saturday with a twelfth place in Qualifying (1’45”919). Franco started from the fourth row and he tried to bouce back immediately. However, a contact in the first stages of the Sprint costed him several places.  The Italian-Brazilian rider tried to recover and he crossed the finish line in eighteenth place. Morbidelli is now sixteenth in the World Standing with 53 points.

The Aragon GP will conclude tomorrow with the main race, which will start at 2 p.m. (local time).

 

Fabio Di Giannantonio: “Today I had a good Sprint start, but I didn’t have a great feeling, unfortunately. When I arrived at the braking point, I was too much outside of the ideal line, I lost the front and I crashed. Luckily, I’m ok, but it was a pity. For sure, we will work to change some things on the bike, but we saw that Ducati is very strong here, this is positive. For tomorrow, the goal is to be as close as possible to the riders in front and try to be in Top5.”

Franco Morbidelli: “It was a complicated Sprint. In the opening lap, I had a contact with another rider at Turn 5 and I lost several positions. From that moment, I struggled to recover, I couldn’t ride as I wanted. However, during the race I was able to do a great lap, and this is good. It’s a pity for this rewardless race, but we look at the positives of the day: in Qualifying I has a good lap, apart from the yellow flag which prevented me to be further on the grid. For tomorrow’s race, the goal is to have a good start and fight for interesting positions.”

 

 

 

 

• After securing a Q2 spot in qualifying, Moreira made a solid start from 10th position and began fighting against his rivals.
• The rider placed himself in the fight for the top 5, avoiding mistakes and maintaining his concentration.
• In the end, giving his maximum until the last inch of the Sprint while struggling with the rear tyre, he crossed the finish line in 7th, grabbing important points and equaling his best Sprint result so far.

 

 

 

• Qualifying

The sunny skies of Friday remained for Saturday at the Aragón Grand Prix. After working with his crew to improve his feeling in the 5.08km track’s numerous heavy braking zones, Bastianini placed P6 in Q1 and 16th overall.

Espargaró continued to build his confidence on KTM’s 1000cc RC16 and Michelin tyres on Saturday morning. Finishing 20th in FP2, the 35-year-old was tenth in Q1, putting him 20th on the grid.

 

• Sprint

As temperatures soared to 29 degrees when the eleven-lap Sprint kicked off, rear tyre choice was open for the 22-rider field. Thinking of the later laps, Bastianini went for Michelin’s medium option, while Espargaró felt more comfortable on the soft.

Bastianini had an all-action opening to the race. Contact with another rider affected his first lap, and he just avoided a crash when Luca Marini fell behind him, but ‘La Bestia’ managed to gain three places on lap two to sit twelfth. A pair of personal best times on laps four and five brought him onto the back of Pecco Bagnaia’s Ducati in eleventh.

While his mid-race pace is reason for optimism, unfortunately the Italian started to suffer from front tyre wear in the closing laps. He lost two places on the penultimate lap as a result, leaving him 14th.

Espargaró also endured a tough opening. The Spaniard struggled at the start before he had to avoid Marini’s crash and Fabio Quartararo’s bike when it suffered a mechanical failure on the back straight on lap five. This lost him ground to the group ahead, but the former Moto2 World Champion gained valuable experience in the remaining laps to finish 17th.

The Tech3 team-mates are now preparing for race day in Aragón, which sees Warm Up start the day off at 9:40 (UTC+2) before Sunday’s 23-lap race, which kicks off at 14:00 (UTC+2).

 

 

 

 

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Jack Miller converted his strong Friday pace into a 10th-place finish in the Aragón Sprint, securing his first Top 10 of the season, while Toprak Razgatlıoğlu fought his way to 13th after a determined battle with Brad Binder.

 

 

 

 

Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP turned the fortunes around in Saturday‘s Aragón Sprint, with both riders showing a stronger race performance after a difficult opening day. Jack Miller confirmed the speed demonstrated throughout Friday by finishing 10th, while Toprak Razgatlıoğlu produced a determined comeback to cross the line 13th after fighting for position throughout the race.

Starting from 19th after a late-session crash compromised his Friday afternoon, Miller made steady progress through the field and once again demonstrated the pace that had been evident in both practice sessions. The Australian managed the race effectively and fought his way into the Top 10, securing his first Top 10 finish of the season. It was a valuable confirmation of the performance level shown by the YZR-M1 throughout the weekend and of the development work carried out by the team and Yamaha over recent months.

Razgatlıoğlu delivered a much stronger performance than his Friday result suggested. Starting from 21st, the Turkish rider showed determination and aggression throughout the Sprint, engaging in a close and repeated battle with Brad Binder. The pair exchanged positions several times before Toprak made the decisive move towards the end of the race to finish 13th, gaining valuable experience of managing the demanding Aragón circuit and the YZR-M1 over race distance.

The Sprint therefore provided another useful indication of the progress being made with the project, with Miller’s Top 10 representing a tangible result after a difficult Friday and Toprak showing a clear step forward in race conditions. Both riders will now have another opportunity to build on today’s performance in Sunday’s Grand Prix, as the team continues to analyse the data and work towards further improvements over the full race distance.

 

 

 

 

Jack Miller: “It was a decent Sprint. Obviously, we’re still lacking a bit of top speed, but the bike worked well and we were competitive on the medium tyre. I just tried to nurse it as much as I could, and the pace was good all the way through. We were pretty close to getting a point, so it’s a case of so close, but so far.

I was happy with how the bike worked, especially through the last corner. I’m able to brake quite late there and carry good speed, which helps us make some of that time back. We also tried the new swingarm this weekend and it seems to give us a little bit more traction, as well as some improvements in terms of stability and set-up, so that’s another useful piece of information for us.

The Grand Prix tomorrow will be a different story. It’s always a tough race here with the tyres, and I was already seeing quite a bit of degradation on the front left in the Sprint. We’ll need to be a bit more gentle with it over 23 laps and manage it as well as we can. We’ll look at the set-up again tonight and see what we can improve for tomorrow.” 

 

 

 

 

 

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu: “It wasn’t such a bad race. The biggest problem for all the Yamahas is the back straight. We lose a lot of time there, which makes overtaking very difficult. In the corners I can be strong, especially in Turn 7, but then I lose the gap again on the straight. I had to work quite hard to make the passes and that also used the rear tyre. Still, I think I did a good job and we showed that the pace is there.

I made one mistake in the last corner when I was trying to stay with Bastianini. He braked differently compared to the previous lap and I wasn’t expecting it, so I had to pick up the bike to avoid him and went wide, losing two positions. After that I was able to close the gap again, but without that mistake I think I could have stayed closer to Jack. We are very strong on the brakes, but that’s also where we have our limit because the front tyre starts to lock. We need to find a little more in the last corner and especially on the acceleration.

I learned something important this weekend because we tried a different set-up, with the front lower and further in, which is not something I’m normally used to. But I understood that I needed a bike that turns better, and today I felt more comfortable with it. That’s positive. I think a Top 10 is the target for tomorrow. It won’t be easy over the longer race distance because tyre management will be important, but I don’t think we’re too far away.

This year has been difficult, but I’m trying to always look at the positive side and learn as much as I can. I’m still learning about the tyres and about corner speed, which is not naturally my style, but I think these experiences can help me in the future. The most important thing is that I have my team behind me. They keep me strong and push me to learn, and that makes a big difference.” 

 

 

 

Gino Borsoi – Team Director: “I would say it was a pretty positive day for the team, especially considering the big step forward Toprak made. From yesterday, he managed to improve significantly and felt much more comfortable on the bike. I saw a much happier rider today, and it looks like we have found our way back towards the direction we had started to follow a few races ago. That’s an important step forward for him, and I hope he can continue with this pace tomorrow.

As for Jack, his work has been impeccable. The Sprint was more than 9 seconds faster than last year’s race, which is a significant improvement. Apart from yesterday’s small mistake and the crash, his weekend so far has been excellent.

Tomorrow won’t be easy, but I think the team and both riders have done a very good job up to this point”