Motorland warming up for the third Spanish round of the season
POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders hope for positive result in team’s home race before long-haul rounds
The most exciting and most demanding period of the MotoGP season is on the horizon with three back-to-back races in different corners of the globe to come next month but before that there is one more date on the European mainland to take care of. The Motorland circuit in Aragón plays host to the fourteenth round of the season, with its 5.078km Hermann Tilke designed layout boasting some of the most technical pieces of asphalt in the championship. After a wet and wild weekend at Misano, Valentino Rossi was able to extend his advantage over Jorge Lorenzo to 23 points, with the Spaniard now in need of a response in front of his home crowd. Marc Márquez, cut adrift in the title chase, will also be determined to take a home win, adding extra spice to an interesting weekend at Motorland.
After doing a great job in practice at Misano the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar team fell victim to the strange conditions in the race and now Nicky Hayden and Eugene Laverty are doubly determined to return to the points at Aragón. The American suffered an injury setback during his weekend off, suffering a slight fracture to his right thumb, although after visiting the doctors he is confident of competing at Motorland. Laverty is a huge fan of the Aragón circuit from his days in World Superbikes and he is hopeful of maintaing his strong form since the summer break.
Nicky Hayden: “Aragon is next, it’s quite a unique track with a lot of elevation and it’s quite technical, with some blind entries and downhill braking. It’s certainly not an easy track and I haven’t made it any easier this year because I had a little accident training on minimotos in Italy and broke my thumb. I have seen the doctors and had the scans and I am optimistic I’ll still be able to race but we will have to see on Friday how I feel. Unfortunately it’s the right thumb, which is always a little bit worse, but I have been doing a lot of therapy in the last days and I definitely feel a bit better. We weren’t having an easy season as it is and this won’t make it easier but injuries are as much a part of this game as finding a set-up for your bike! Hopefully we can go there and still have a positive weekend.”
Eugene Laverty: “I’m excited to ride Aragon on a MotoGP bike. Even though many of the corners are slow and in second gear the circuit still has a flowing nature and that suits our Open Honda. The long back straight exiting a first gear corner is the only area of the track that causes me concern. Our bike is working fantastically and in Misano we were able to continue our ultra-strong pace for the second successive race weekend. The changeable weather on race day hasn’t gone our way lately but that’s racing. There’s no point in focusing on things that are out of our control. I’m really happy with my Aspar Team crew and we’ve really begun to gel since the summer break. With five rounds remaining I’m optimistic of a strong finish to our season.”