Back to MotorLand: does another duel await in 2024?

MotoGP™ returns to the stage of some spectacular duels in recent seasons, with the scene set for a repeat performance. But which?

Monday, 26 August 2024

As the paddock arrived into MotorLand Aragon in 2021, now two-time MotoGP™ World Champion – and current Championship leader – Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) had never won a MotoGP™ race. That changed on Sunday as the then #63 duelled eight-time World Champion, home hero and anti-clockwise king Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) for the top step, repelling seven attacks over the final three laps to join the pantheon of premier class winners. Since that day, their respective paths have taken plenty of twists and turns – and next year they converge as teammates. But a big chapter of what could become one of the sport’s biggest long term rivalries started right here. So can we expect a throwdown?

 
Bagnaia is on a roll as the paddock heads back to Spain. He’s now equalled his maximum number of wins in a season already – seven – and arrives in Aragon from a double taken in style at Spielberg. He’s the rider to beat, the Championship leader, riding in enemy territory and now looking down the barrel of a 2025 teammate whose presence will have its own say on Bagnaia’s legacy. Incidentally, the same rider who has a corner named after them at this very track. Motivation and form don’t come in much more convincing packages than this.

Marquez, meanwhile, arrives in a scrappier run after two Sprint crashes and a more dramatic start to the Austrian GP. But his pace in Spielberg was dramatic in a different way. Might he have been able to stick with the red machine up ahead? No one else seemed likely to do so, and the stage seemed set for it too as the Bagnaia, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), Marc Marquez trio lined up on the front row. So now add in Aragon, the fact it’s anti-clockwise and home turf, and there could be fireworks this weekend – even without considering that a single centimetre more luck could have its own say in turning his run of form around.

Having said that, Martin can never be counted out. Over the last stint of 2023 the #89 learned to be both fast and consistent at the same time, and he’s carried that into 2024 to remain right in the fight at the front – also leading the way for much of the season – without needing to stage any grand comeback. He’s fast everywhere, he’s made relatively few unforced errors, and he’s only five points off the top. He’s also well versed in sticking with and overhauling his fellow key contenders. Finding that final tenth is something he’s done before and it would be no surprise to see him prove a key protagonist in the fight for victory.

And then there’s Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team). 2021 was not, of course, the last time Aragon welcomed MotoGP™. The last time it did, in 2022, it was another duel – but this time Bastianini vs Bagnaia, and with the Beast coming out on top. He lost a little ground in the Championship in Austria but his double at Silverstone was a reminder, if anyone needed one, how fast he is. He lurks in third in the title fight, clearly hasn’t given up on it, and is 61 points off the top. There’s a maximum of 333 points left on the table in 2024, and Bastianini is one of the riders, if not THE rider, who immediately comes to mind when thinking about 148 of them: Aragon, San Marino, Emilia-Romagna and Sepang. That stint starts here.

There were some positives for plenty in Austria though. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was back in the top five on their home turf, and teammate Jack Miller had plenty of speed to write home about, even if it came apart on Sunday. Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) had a solid weekend and took home a top six, and Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) had some real flashes of pace even if some dramas got in the way. At Aragon, we can also expect the return of Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) to fight it out in a similar group too.

For Aprilia, meanwhile, Aragon should promise a little more. Spielberg saw Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) take a Tissot Sprint podium and then teammate Maverick Viñales lead the charge on Sunday in P7, but that doesn’t better their previous best at the venue. The very different MotorLand layout, plus their records at the track and the home turf aspect for the #12 and #41, should see the Noale factory back in the mix. Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira will also want plenty more on their 2024 RS-GPs and hope for a similar uptick.

Looking to rejoin that tight battle for the top five or more – and win it – are the likes of Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) and, most especially, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3). The #73 took a top ten but had a tougher weekend, and the #31 had one of his toughest yet in MotoGP™, behind wildcard Pol Espargaro and with teammate Augusto Fernandez not far off nipping at his heels.

It was a tough one in Austria for a few. Some issues for Luca Marini (Repsol Honda Team) and Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) – although the latter finished – affected their Sundays, although Honda did take two points thanks to a P14 nabbed on the very last lap by a charging Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR). Meanwhile Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) had a tougher one and will want more at Aragon in the Honda battle and the fight for points too. Of no one is that more true, however, than Yamaha.

Neither Fabio Quartararo nor Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ teammate Alex Rins scored in Austria, and they’ll want to put that right ASAP at Aragon. They also had a test in the meantime as work continues towards getting back into that fight at the front, and rather interestingly called on the talents of MotoGP™ Legend Andrea Dovizioso to join them on track for that as test rider Cal Crutchlow continues to recover from injury. That was at Misano, so could prove interesting at the events appearing on the horizon, but the first mission at MotorLand will be clear: points.

We’ve seen some true classics at this track and the 2024 season so far promises so much potential for another to thrill us as we return to the venue. With so more than points on the line as honour, reputation, glory and more go up for grabs, you don’t want to miss the Gran Premio GoPro de Aragón this weekend!

SHOWTIME

Saturday

Tissot Sprint: 15:00 (UTC +2)

Sunday

Grand Prix: 14:00 (UTC +2)

 
 
Moto2™: will the form book shuffle again in Aragon?

The Austrian GP was a weekend where the Moto2™ World Championship frontrunners endured tougher times – and one where nobody could match Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) on Sunday afternoon. The Italian won at the Red Bull Ring for a second year in succession as a trip to a different challenge in the form of MotorLand Aragon now beckons.

Vietti’s debut win in the famous Red Bull KTM Ajo colours was a dominant one. Two podiums on the spin have been a fantastic start to the second half of the season for the #13, as a second for Alonso Lopez (Sync SpeedUp) ended his mini podium drought. Jake Dixon’s (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) P3 was his third top three on the spin as the Briton continues to find great form, as Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) – a podium finisher at Aragon in 2022 – narrowly missed out on a podium.

Those four riders will be looking for more of the same performance in Aragon, but title chase leader Sergio Garcia, his MT Helmets – MSI teammate Ai Ogura, Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing) and Fermin Aldeguer (Sync SpeedUp) will be hungry for much more.

Garcia’s P14 saw him gain just two points – the gap now at 20 – on the luckless Ogura, with the Japanese star’s first crash of the season seeing him suffer a fracture in his right hand. Roberts’ quiet weekend saw him claw back some crucial points on Garcia, while Aldeguer’s P20 now sees him drop to P5 – behind his teammate – in the overall standings… how will the grid shuffle again at MotorLand?

 
Moto3™: Alonso looks to hammer home his advantage in Aragon

A showstopper from David Alonso in Spielberg saw the Colombian claim a phenomenal seventh win of the season, despite having to contend with a Long Lap penalty. The latest 25-point collection sees the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team star land in Aragon with a whopping 71-point lead in the Moto3™ title race. The question now is: can anyone halt the #80’s incredible momentum?

Despite the drama that unfolded for Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) in Austria, the Spaniard remains Alonso’s chief Championship chaser. Sunday promised much more than a P9 for Ortola, as he was left to stew on stalling his bike as the riders rolled up to the grid. Still, that recovery ride was something pretty special, but now it’s all about beating Alonso at every opportunity.

2022 Aragon podium finisher, Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), bagged his first rostrum since Le Mans sees the #96 stay in P3 overall, as David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) nicked P2 from his grasp by just 0.005s in Austria. That result for Muñoz saw him move up to P5 in the Championship, one place behind Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) as the Dutch star hopes Aragon can be the place he wins for the first time since Jerez, because a P5 wasn’t what Veijer ordered from Austria.

Catch me if you can is the shout from Alonso – how will the chasers respond at MotorLand?