The always enthusiastic Spanish crowd will be looking to either Jorge Lorenzo or Dani Pedrosa to give them a home win to celebrate this weekend, as the all-new Motorland Aragón circuit hosts a MotoGP round for the first time. Lorenzo, who currently leads the World Championship by 63 points from compatriot Pedrosa, tested at the Aragón circuit on a road bike last month. The Mallorcan said during today’s pre-event press conference that he was looking forward to the weekend ahead, on a track that excited him. “I did some laps here on a Yamaha R1 and was very excited to try the new track,” declared Lorenzo. “Seems a lot of fun, with a lot of interesting corners and a long straight. It will be interesting to see how everyone adapts; it will be very different riding a real bike here like the M1.” Lorenzo remains the only MotoGP rider to have scored points in every round so far this season, having also finished on the podium in every race. It’s this consistency that has been key to his championship campaign and the Fiat Yamaha rider is keen to add another podium finish to his tally here at Aragón this weekend. With six rounds of the season remaining what had seemed to be a straight run for Lorenzo to a first premier class title now appears to be a little more complicated thanks to the efforts of Pedrosa, who has reduced the points deficit by 14 points in just two races with his back-to-back wins at Indianapolis and Misano. “Nobody said it was going to be easy. You have to fight for a championship, against some real fighters, if you want to win. My aim here is to get on the podium again and to push as hard as I can,” added Lorenzo. Pedrosa finished second to Lorenzo at Jerez and Catalunya, but arrives at Aragón with renewed confidence after his recent victories and keen to take his fifth win of the season. “In the last races we did good races and I’m happy with the results,” said Pedrosa. “This track is impressive; it has a different layout and you can have some fun here. Some corners will be difficult to figure out braking points for, especially the blind corners, and we might have rain to contend with tomorrow as well.” Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi is still suffering the effects of the shoulder injury he sustained in a motocross accident earlier in the season. The Fiat Yamaha rider has taken two podium finishes since his return from injury, the last coming at Misano two weeks ago, but admitted during the pre-event press conference that he still has some pain in his damaged shoulder. “After the race in Misano I had pain in my shoulder for two or three days and it looks like I will need surgery at the end of the season now,” explained Rossi. “My target this weekend is to stay with Jorge and Dani who, at all tracks and in all conditions, are doing a great job.” “Spain is a great place to race with motorcycles. I tried this track with a Yamaha R1 last week and it was very, very funny. I say maybe I do 15 or 20 laps to get a feel for the track, but I enjoyed it so much I ended up pushing to improve my lap time and ended up doing 50 laps!” Alvaro Bautista will be the sole Rizla Suzuki rider on track at Aragón, as Loris Capirossi has been forced to sit out this race due to the hand injury sustained in his opening lap crash at Misano. Bautista secured his best result of the season so far the last time he raced in Spain, taking fifth place at the Grand Prix of Catalunya, a performance he is keen to repeat this weekend at Aragón. “I hope we can continue the improvements we’ve made with the bike and close the gap on the fastest riders,” said Bautista. “I like the Aragón track; some different corners, uphill, downhill some hard braking areas and a very fast straight. I’m looking forward to riding the Suzuki GSV-R here this weekend.” Joining the MotoGP riders at the pre-event press conference was current Moto2 Championship leader, Toni Elias. The Spaniard has an 83-point lead at the top of the standings going into the Aragón weekend, courtesy of six wins in the hotly contested new four-stroke formula. The Gresini rider has won the last four races aboard his Moriwaki Moto2 machine, despite suffering with a virus since Indianapolis. “In Indy I was with a lot of fever and in Misano I still wasn’t fit. Even now I’m not 100% but I’m certainly much better than I was at Misano. But I won the last two races, so it’s not such a big problem and I’m happy. With the Moriwaki I have a good bike and this has helped when I’ve not been completely fit.” Elias then went on to explain his thoughts on honouring Shoya Tomizawa, who tragically lost his life at Misano two weeks ago. “As you know, every year in the 125cc and 250cc the Michel Metraux award was given to the best private rider,” explained Elias. “As this year in Moto2 all the riders are from independent teams, it was decided at the beginning of the year that all Moto2 riders would vote for who they think has made best achievements during the season.” “And I would like to ask to all my fellow riders to vote for Shoya and dedicate this award to him,” concluded the Moto2 World Championship leader. More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: NEW SPANISH VENUE FOR MOTOGP RIDERS AND TEAMS AT ARAGON MOTORLAND Aragon, 16th September: This weekend the motorcycling World Championship gets to experience its only all-new race circuit of 2010 as the MotoGP circus returns to Spain for the first Aragon Grand Prix at the newly built MotorLand Aragon circuit. The anti-clockwise circuit meanders across the undulating landscape with an interesting combination of 17 corners within the 5.077km layout. There’s a great variety of fast and slow corners, with elevation changes and several blind corner entries adding to the challenge. LCR Honda MotoGP Team racer Randy De Puniet continues to chase his goal of completing this season as the top non-factory rider in motorcycling’s biggest race series. The Frenchman is still on course to achieve his target despite breaking a leg at July’s French GP. Remarkably, de Puniet was back in action just four weeks later at Brno and scoring a top-ten finish. His last two races have been more difficult affairs a sign that his rapid recovery has taken its toll though at Misano he did prove that his speed is undiminished with a heroic qualifying performance that put him on the second row of the grid. De Puniet: “I am pretty excited about this new round. I did some laps in June and liked the track very much. I think this could be an interesting circuit for the MotoGP bikes and teams. The circuit combines fast and slow corners which are quite technical and suits my riding style. Honestly after Misano race I felt very tired. I think I paid for my very fast recovery after the injury. Now it is time to concentrate and to find the level to avoid further effort. We need to make the most of the practice sessions to chase the right set up as we want to end this part of the season as best private team of the classification.” More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: Aragon GP, preview It’s time for Spain again in the Moto2 Championship, with the brand new GP of Aragon on the circuit of the same name. This is a completely new facility, called Motorland, which has been designed by Herman Tilke, the German architect that is also the brains behind many F1 circuits and who also designed the magnificent circuit of Portimao. Aragon is a real riders’ circuit: a long straight, fast big curves, elevation changes, tight corners it’s a circuit that will stress the capabilities of both rider and machine’s performance: especially in braking and acceleration. Simone Corsi and Alex De Angelis are determined to take their MotoBI machines to the highest level this weekend. Simone Corsi “I’m looking forward to racing in Aragon because it is a brand-new circuit. We had a test there after Barcelona but nobody has raced there yet, it will be interesting to see how things will go. We’re in a good shape, I like the track because it’s technical, it means it has the characteristics I like the most. Our performances deserve the podium once more, therefore we’ll work hard in Aragon to pursue this objective and to bring home as many points as possible for the Championship; I’m fifth at the moment but the gap to the fourth is not impossible to reach.” Also in Aragon the second MotoBI of the team will be brought to race by Alex De Angelis, who is recovering from the bad accident he had in Misano and will have to get the confidence back and discover the new track’s secrets. Alex De Angelis “From a physical point of view I feel good, I have no consequences after the crash I had at the San Marino GP, but I still feel the emotional marks from that accident. I got a little depressed about what happened in Misano, so I’m working hard to overcome these difficult times. For this reason I want to ride my bike again, I don’t know the effect this will have yet, but it will be a challenge I have to face with determination and commitment.” More, from a press release issued by FTR Moto: FIVE FTR MOTO MACHINES SET FOR ARAGON GP FTR MOTO will field five M210 Moto2 machines in this weekend’s Motorland Aragon round of the World Championship in Spain. The four regular FTRmounted riders Alex Debon, Andrea Iannone, Gabor Talmacsi and Karel Abraham will be joined at Aragon by wild card Kev Coghlan on the Monlau Competicion/Joe Darcey Team FTR machine. “It’s the third time this year that we’ve been able to field five machines and after the last wild card outing of Jason DiSalvo at Indianapolis and his ninth place finish we’re hopeful of a strong showing from Kev and the team at Aragon,” said FTR’s Steve Bones. Coghlan is second in the Spanish Moto2 Championship, just seven points off the lead, and is relishing the chance to tackle the World Championship competition and on a circuit where he won round four of the CEV Buckler Spanish series in July. “I had a good run at Aragon two months ago and managed to lead the race from start to finish so I’m keen to get back there,” said Coghlan. “We run Michelins in the Spanish Championship and the World Championship is on Dunlops so we’ve a bit of work to do on set-up but the guys can handle that OK.” Andrea Iannone will be hoping this weekend’s 12th round of the World Championship can complete a hat-trick of wins in the new class, adding to his victories at Mugello, Italy and Assen, Holland in June. Iannone is fourth in the World Championship, just nine points adrift of second place, while his FIMMCO Speed Up team-mate Talmacsi sits in eighth place in the World Championship after a consistent campaign and just one non-finish on his M210. Cardion AB Motoracing Team M210 rider Karel Abraham will be aiming to make up for the disappointment of missing the last two rounds while Spaniard Alex Debon and his Aeroport de Castello-Ajo Team will be hoping for success on home soil after also missing the previous round at Misano through injury. FTR’s Bones continued: “In addition to this being the 12th round of 17 there’s also a lot of focus now on 2011 and team’s are well under way with their planning. We have a lot of interest from teams for 2011 and hopefully that will be complemented and endorsed by success in Sunday’s Aragon race. “For Aragon with a view to the final third of the 2010 World Championship we have improvements to the M210 with a revised frame, new triple clamps and an interim fuel tank and seat unit all being supplied and tested and available to all of the FTR teams.”