HONDA RACING INFORMATION 2014 FIM Roadracing World Championship Grand Prix, Round 14 of 18, Aragón Grand Prix, MotorLand Aragón 26-28 September 2014 Preview: MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 HONDA’S MARQUEZ READY FOR HIS FAVOURITE RACETRACK The Repsol Honda team returns to Spain for the third time this year with the aim of getting back to its winning ways following its first defeat in 13 races at Misano two weeks ago. Runaway title leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V) was once again in the fight for victory at the Italian track, until he slid off without injury. Already 11 times a winner this year, the 21-year-old reigning World Champion will arrive at Aragón with a 74 point series lead over team-mate Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V). The Spanish pair can count on huge home-crowd support this weekend at the recently constructed venue situated 200km (125 miles) inland from Barcelona, Spain’s motorcycling heartland. Marquez has had a near perfect title-defence season so far, with 11 wins, one fourth-place finish and one 15th place two weeks ago after he had remounted and restarted at Misano. That tumble came as the youngster battled with veteran Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) at the Italian’s home track. Many riders in Marquez’s position would have preferred to ease off and finish a comfortable second but it is in Marquez’s nature to fight for victory whenever possible. This is the attitude that has won him such a massive global following in only his second season in the class of kings. Marquez certainly has form at Aragón, his favourite track on the calendar. Last year he beat reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) in his first MotoGP ride at the track and in 2011 he won the Moto2 race. Pedrosa has also enjoyed success at start-of-the-art Aragón, which was constructed in 2009 and 2010 outside the historic city of Alcaniz. He finished second to Casey Stoner in 2010 and 2011, then won the 2012 race ahead of Lorenzo. Last September he was once again in the fight for victory when he was sidelined by a freak incident. The rear of his machine was tagged by Marquez, the contact disabling Pedrosa’s traction-control system, which caused him to fall. This year he will work to return to the top step of the podium to extend his slender one-point advantage over Rossi. Last year Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda RC213V) scored a fifth-place finish at Aragón and on this visit the former Moto2 World Champion will be aiming to get back inside the top five after sliding out of the San Marino Grand Prix a fortnight ago. The German has had an up-and-down 2014 so far, with two front-row starts proving that he has the speed when things work in his favour. Alvaro Bautista (Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini RC213V) sits ten points behind Bradl in the championship chase, his 2014 challenge dented by a number of crashes in races. The Spaniard had a great ride at Aragón last September, finishing less than a second off the podium in fourth place after an entertaining battle with Rossi and Bradl. Scott Redding (Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini RCV1000R) goes into the 14th race of his rookie MotoGP season with a huge weight off his shoulders. Two weeks ago it was confirmed that he will be equipped with an RC213V for his 2015 MotoGP campaign. So far this year the Briton has been the stand-out performer on Honda’s production MotoGP bike, the RCV1000R. Redding is currently 12th in the championship, between Bautista and factory Ducati rider Cal Crutchlow, and knows he goes well at Aragón where last year he finished fourth in the Moto2 race after fighting through from 13th on the grid. Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive 7 Aspar Honda RCV1000R) plans to continue his super-consistent form as one of only five riders to have scored in every race so far this season. The former 250 World Champion is currently the second RCV1000R in the championship with two top-ten finishes, in Argentina and at Indianapolis. At Misano Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing Honda RCV1000R) achieved his first victory in the Open class, for non-factory bikes. His confidence boosted by that result, the former Moto2 Grand Prix winner aims to continue his battle with his fellow Open class riders at Aragón. Nicky Hayden (Drive 7 Aspar Honda RCV1000R) hopes to race again on Sunday for the first time since July’s German GP after recovering from further surgery to fix an old and troublesome wrist injury. The 2006 MotoGP World Champion had previously missed June’s Italian GP to undergo surgery, but after several more races he understood that a further operation was necessary. Hayden has been riding dirt track at home in the States to prepare for his comeback. Tito Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team, Kalex) has won the last three races in the Honda-powered Moto2 series to extend his points lead to 22 over team-mate Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team, Kalex). The pair have dominated this year’s Moto2 World Championship with Rabat winning seven races so far and Kallio taking three. Although the Spaniard and Finn are well ahead in the points chase, Maverick Vinales (Pons HP 40, Kalex) is still within striking distance. Vinales is by far the most impressive rookie of 2015, having scored a win at the Grand Prix of the Americas and a further four podium places. Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert, Suter) is next up in fourth, his championship position boosted considerably by his first Grand Prix victory, achieved at July’s German Grand Prix. Eighth-placed Anthony West (QMMF Racing Team, Speed Up) has certainly had a lot of track time since Misano. Last weekend the Australian contested the legendary Le Mans 24 hour race, winning the Superstock class. The battle for the 2014 Moto3 World Championship is coming to the boil nicely, with Honda riders winning the last four races. At Misano Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda NSF250RW) won a thrilling last-lap duel with team-mate Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda NSF250RW) to move the pair closer to series leader Jack Miller (KTM), who hasn’t won a race since July’s German GP. Rins’ first victories of the year at Misano and Silverstone have also closed the gap between him and Marquez, who holds second overall, just nine points behind Miller. Rins and Marquez have high hopes for this weekend, having tested at Aragón three times this year. Other Honda Moto3 riders have also proved the ever-improving performance of their machines with recent wins in the class, with Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold Honda NSF250RW) winning his first GP at Brno and Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG Honda NSF250RW) taking his first GP success at Indy. MotorLand Aragón joined the MotoGP World Championship in 2010 and is one of four circuits in bike-mad Spain to host rounds of the series, along with Jerez, Catalunya and Valencia. The circuit twists and turns over undulating countryside and features the steepest gradients in MotoGP, which offers an extra challenge for riders and engineers. Aragón also features one of the longest straights of the season which places extra emphasis on horsepower. Repsol Honda riders have won the last three MotoGP races at the track, with Marquez taking victory last year, Pedrosa in 2012 and Stoner in 2011. After Aragón the MotoGP circus heads east for a quick-fire run of three races over three weekends, commencing with the Japanese Grand Prix on 12 October. MotoGP returns to Europe for its season finale at Valencia on 9 November. Honda MotoGP rider quotes Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda, says: “After a disappointing weekend in Italy it will be nice to return home to race in front of our home fans in Aragón this weekend and also my fan club will be coming! This is my favourite track of the year and we’ve had good results here in the past three years so I hope to continue this way. It has technical first and final sections, and you need to be strong in cornering, but we work hard from Friday to be back on top on Sunday!” Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda, says: “Last year obviously wasn’t the best for me, but apart from that I’ve always done well in Aragón and I’m looking forward to racing in front of our home crowd again, the support is always great and gives you motivation! Obviously Marc has a huge lead in the championship but there is only a single point between me and Valentino, so my priority is to win races and open that margin to take second in the standings.” Alvaro Bautista, Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini, says: “Aragon is a very special track, being characterized by fast corners mixed with some tight ones and also a very long straight. It’s another circuit where last year we were competitive, even though the references of 2013 at this time have little value. At the moment we are struggling and we have a lot of problems; I hope that the atmosphere of my home race can help us to find a solution, because at the moment it’s really difficult to get some good lap times, even if we push at the maximum. I’m very motivated and I really want to get back to work together with the team, looking for a solution in order to find myself more comfortable on the bike. The support of my family and of the many friends who will be on the track this weekend will be also helpful.” Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda MotoGP, says: “I am looking forward to this weekend, because the Aragón circuit suits the Honda, and I must bounce back after my failure in Misano. Aragón is another track which I like pretty much and last year I enjoyed a great battle with Bautista and Rossi to finish the race in fifth place. It would be nice to repeat that weekend.” Scott Redding, Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini, says: “Aragon is quite a nice track and even though it will be again a new circuit for me on a MotoGP bike, I think that it could be good for our technical package. At Misano we faced a difficult weekend and we struggled to be fast, so now we are determined to be back at the level of competitiveness we put on display in the previous races. We will work hard to get back in front of the other Open class Honda and, if possible, we will also try to fight with some factory bikes.” Hiroshi Aoyama, Drive 7 Aspar Honda, says: “I am excited about racing at Aragón this weekend. There are only five races left this season and I want a good result from each of them – especially MotorLand because it comes directly before my home Grand Prix in Japan so I want to go there in good form. Aragón is also an important race for the team because it is one of their home races. MotorLand is a cool circuit, I guess the long straight will penalise us in respect to some of our rivals but the rest of the track should suit our bike. Misano didnt go as well as we hoped but we are making decent progress at the moment and hopefully we can continue to do so this weekend.” Karel Abraham, Cardion AB Motoracing, says: “Winning the Open class at Misano was a great boost for everyone in the team, who have all worked so hard this year. Step by step we are making things better and we go to Aragon with increased confidence and looking forward to continuing our fights with the other Open bikes.” Nicky Hayden, Drive 7 Aspar Honda, says: “I am really happy to finally return to action this weekend. Racing motorcycles is not only my job but my passion and it hasn’t been easy for me to miss so many races. I just focused on getting back as quickly as possible but riding a MotoGP is not something you can test your fitness for until you try it. I have been riding quite a bit of dirt-track lately but I cant say for sure how strong I am, so I’m looking forward to getting on the bike and seeing the results of the operation. At the moment I don’t want to set any objectives other than to get back out there and see how I feel. I am looking forward to seeing the team again and I cant wait to get back to the serious work on Friday. My arm and wrist feel quite strong and the movement has improved. I didnt want to come back until I knew I had done everything I could to recover and I am happy with the result. I managed to get on the podium the first year we raced at Motorland, I quite like the circuit and it has some fun corners.” Moto2 rider quotes Tito Rabat, Marc VDS Racing Team, says: “It’s a little different racing in Spain, because you can feel the support of the home crowd, but that won’t alter my approach to this weekend’s race in Aragón. It’s still very close between Mika and me in the championship, so I go to Aragón with the same aim as always; to work hard with my crew, focus on my job, put in 100 per cent and, on Sunday, try and fight for the race win.” Mika Kallio, Marc VDS Racing Team, says: “Now it’s time to think about the championship, as the end of the season is approaching and we have just five races left in which to decide things. It’s still close in the standings, but the last three races didn’t go our way; my race pace was good, but Tito just seemed to have more rear grip at the end of the race, which he used to his advantage. Maybe we need to modify our strategy for the remaining races and think about how we can save the tyres for the final laps because, now, I need to keep Tito behind me. He’s the main target because, unless we hit a problem, the others are maybe too far behind to challenge for the title. It looks like it’s going to be down to me or him now and I hope we can regain the upper hand this weekend in Aragón.” Maverick Vinales, Pons HP 40, says: “Racing at home is always a great feeling and we are lucky to have four races at home, with our home fans offering us extra support and motivation every time. Although we did a useful test at Aragón in May, this will still be very much like a new track for me and my Moto2 bike. We finished on the podium in our last race in Spain, at Catalunya, so me and the team will be working hard like always to repeat that performance.” Honda Moto3 rider quotes Alex Rins, Estrella Galicia 0,0, says: “I always feel optimistic and motivated when it comes to racing at a home track. The pressure will be bigger than ever because we go to Aragón after winning the last two races, so all my fans will be encouraging me to win again, but it will not be easy. Three weeks ago we did some tests at Aragón and we got a good set-up for the bike, and now we will see how the weekend goes.” Alex Marquez, Estrella Galicia 0,0, says: “At this home race we need our fans to come and cheer us more than ever and to help us achieve even greater results. I think this could be a very good weekend for us because this year we have had three private tests at Aragón which should certainly help us. I will treat the race like any another and try to be as consistent as I have been in the test. We had a great race at Misano and I hope that we are even stronger this weekend.” Efren Vazquez, SaxoPrint-RTG, says: “Another home race and I’m really looking forward to this GP. I want to push hard before the racing moved outside of Europe. We are now in good place in this championship, but with every race the racing gets closer, so we will need to fight harder in the last five races!”
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 07:02:23 +0000
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