2019 MotoGP preview: Round 14, Aragon

The MotoGP championship moves over the border from Valentino Rossi’s backyard in Italy to that of Spaniard Marc Marquez this weekend, with round 14 of the season in Aragon.

The venerable defending world champion has been a force throughout this season, regularly fending off the likes of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Maverick Vinales (Monster Yamaha), Alex Rins (Suzuki Ecstar), Valentino Rossi (Monster Yamaha) and most recently Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha) to build a seemingly insurmountable 93-point lead in the championship.

Adding another dimension to the weekend, the paddock arrives in Spain with Mika Kallio controversially filling Johan Zarco’s Factory KTM seat, after the Austrian manufacturer decided to exempt the Frenchman from MotoGP duties. Zarco will remain contracted to KTM until season’s end, but will no longer be expected to front at race meetings.

As if Marquez needs any further motivation following last week’s exploits against rookie Quartararo – or for that matter his heated qualifying exchange with Rossi – the number 93 returns to his home circuit to start his 200th MotoGP race, and with plenty of form behind him.
Marquez will be eyeing a third consecutive premier class victory in Aragon – a circuit where Spanish riders have had great success across all three GP classes, winning 19 of the 27 GP races that have taken place.

Like much of the Spanish-born MotoGP class, Marquez is hopeful of another strong performance.

“After a fantastic win in Misano I am excited to race again, especially in Aragon where I really feel like I am at home as it is so close to Cervera,” Marquez said.

“It’s where the most people from my hometown come to watch and always the fans help to give me something extra.

“We have a good lead in the championship but it doesn’t change how we approach the weekend, we keep pushing and trying to achieve our maximum. Let’s see what happens in Aragon!”

Many have labelled Marquez’s race-long battle with Quartararo a possible portent for the future, though it is worth pointing out the Frenchman won’t head into Aragon with invaluable mid-season testing under his belt like he did in Misano.

Nonetheless, the level-headed 20-year-old has high hopes in taking it to Marquez once again in Spain. As it stands, Quartararo is poised to take out both the Rookie of the Year and Independent Rider accolades, leading Jack Miller and Cal Crutchlow in the latter.

“Fighting with Marc at Misano means that I’m going to Aragon with a lot of confidence,” he said.

“It showed how good a job we did there, and only five days after getting off the bike in a really good condition I get to ride again. The long straights aren’t too much of a problem for us, because we showed at the Red Bull Ring and at Misano that as long as you make a good start and five strong laps at the beginning you can be in the fight.

“The first target will be to be on the front row again, because we need to ensure a good start, and then we’ll try and do our best as always.”

Similarly buoyant after securing his fifth podium performance of the 2019 season is Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales. The Spanish rider is hopeful of a third consecutive podium result in Aragon – a feat he is yet to accomplish in his premier class career.

“After the Misano podium I‘m feeling extra optimistic about coming here in Aragon. Like every Spanish round, this GP is very special to me because the fans and atmosphere are great, and I really like this track,” Vinales said.

“We have been doing good work in the previous rounds, so I expect to be fast here too. We will try to stay focused on our goal, we want to keep improving during every race weekend.

“We‘ve seen our potential get better and better since starting the second half of the season, so I think that we can do a good job.”

Still with Yamaha, veteran Rossi remains confident of another strong outing, coming off a solid fourth place in Misano. Aragon is one of only a handful of circuits the 40-year-old is yet to win at in the modern era, however recent development progress with YZR-M1 means he goes into the weekend carrying form and confidence.

“After the race in Misano we have travelled to Aragon for a back-to-back race. We‘ve seen at the San Marino GP what we need to work on, so that‘s what we will be focusing on during this weekend – though Aragon is a difficult track for us, historically,” Rossi said.

“We always struggled here, but this time we arrive after some good races. For sure we will have to work hard this GP, but we hope to be more competitive than we have been in the past.”

As always, the Australian contingent will be led by Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller, who fought his way to a solid if unremarkable ninth place in Misano, and in Moto2 Remy Gardner, who arrives in Spain with plenty of form but has struggled to convert that into results.

Network 10’s coverage of the Aragon Grand Prix will commence at 8.30pm Sunday AEST on 10 Bold, while Fox Sports will commence its broadcast with Friday practice at 5:00pm AEST.