09.09.2021 |
MotoGP employees |
MotoGP
Image: GeeBee Pictures
After Silverstone, there’s a lot to talk about when MotoGP gets on the saddle to head back south to Spain and the breathtaking MotorLand Aragon.
The modern classic nestles like an outpost of speed in an otherwise rural, striking and barren landscape and invites man and machine to leave their mark. And more importantly for the weekend preview, it’s also a counter-clockwise track … and that usually means one thing: Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez.
The eight-time world champion hasn’t shed glory at Silverstone after an early fall that caught Pramac’s Jorge Martin, but it hasn’t harmed either party and the number 93 quickly apologized. Momentum didn’t mean much to Marquez when the paddock arrived in Germany, another anti-clockwise venue that he absolutely made his own. He’s traditionally the fastest man in MotorLand, and progress keeps coming, at least in terms of speed … so despite having been a bit tougher lately, can he pull another maniac out of the bag?
The good news – to complement his record there – is also the form his Honda colleagues saw at Silverstone. LCR Idemitsu’s Takaaki Nakagami was sick on race day but his Castrol-painted teammate Alex Marquez had one of his best Sundays of the year to date, but it was Pol Espargaro who stole the most headlines. Having enjoyed his best weekend since joining HRC, from pole position, leading the first laps and then coming home fifth, it was a big step forward for the number 44. However, Aragon brings more good reading for the brand . Alex Marquez also clinched his first podium in dry weather at MotorLand last season – and second overall as a rookie – and Nakagami took pole.
This also applies to Aprilia. After a season of knocking on the door week after week, Silverstone finally saw this milestone: a first podium in the MotoGP era. Aleix Espargaro has impressed for much of the year, but his British GP – and the final lap battle to hold Ducati Lenovo’s Jack Miller – delivered another impressive feat that underscores some serious strides. He also took his previous podium in the premier class in Aragon, with the number 41 regularly reaching the top there. But this weekend there’s also a headline on the other side of the garage: Maverick Viñales.
After a few weeks of roller coaster ride, the Spaniard returns in black and red to face a new challenge at the RS-GP – times for a very exciting read. Viñales has already reached the podium with two manufacturers and wins … can he add more with Aprilia? And where will he return to the field when he returns to competition?
Yamaha meanwhile remains at the forefront in the fight for the title. A breathtaking race by Fabio Quartararo of Monster Energy at Silverstone lets him start the weekend with a whopping 65 points advantage, even though the Alcañiz venue was never the best for Yamaha. That can change who is at the top of the table, but it cannot change who is at the top of the table. Quartararo could sit out the next two weekends and still lead the championship by a minimum of 15 points, so he has some leeway to drive smart and focus on damage control when necessary. However, he himself pointed out the big step forward that the Iwata brand has made in Austria, another route that is traditionally tougher. So can he turn the page of the form book? The former team-mate Franco Morbidelli did the same when he visited MotorLand last year …
Cal Crutchlow is returning to his partner Quartararo at Monster Energy Yamaha and will try to keep advancing and gathering data while his British compatriot Jake Dixon also gets another ride on the Petronas Yamaha SRT machine in hopes of one building solid debut at Silverstone. His team-mate Valentino Rossi also got off to a good start last time, having driven straight into Q2 at Silverstone before losing the order due to grip problems in the late race. Can the doctor keep this form on his last visit to MotorLand?
Something similar happened for Suzuki Ecstars Joan Mir when the reigning world champion later ran out of breath at the British GP – for steam, read Grip – and came in ninth, staying ahead of Danilo Petrucci from Tech3 with a mustache. But after Quartararo wins, the ninth is what left him 65 in the lead – and he will be tough to take the opportunity at MotorLand to hit back.
Meanwhile, team-mate Alex Rins had no such problems. The 2019 winner couldn’t quite repeat himself, but he took his first podium of the season in second at Silverstone, and guess who won on our first visit to MotorLand last year? The number 42 was great and he’s going to take that injection of confidence with him. In fact, Suzuki will likely be fairly confident all round at Aragon as they are the only two drivers to have finished on the podium on both visits to the track last season.
And what about Ducati? At Silverstone it was a rather muted run for the Borgo Panigale factory. Miller fought for the podium, Martin fell victim to Marquez’s fall, and both Pramac’s Johann Zarco and Lenovo’s Pecco Bagnaia had a tougher race outside the top 10, but until he had grip problems he was as quick as ever. With Miller back in the mix, can they do so on a track that has traditionally been a tougher hunting ground and can Zarco get back to the form he was in for most of the first half of the season?
Last year KTM had a tougher first weekend in Aragon, followed by a big step forward – the top Austrian machine also beat the top Ducati, so there is reason to expect they will fight for more on Sunday. At Silverstone, Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder put in another impressive Sunday attack, also moving from 12th to 6th place – completing the statistics of six factories in the top six for the first time since 1972. There were also outstanding performances from Tech3s Iker Lecuona and Petrucci as both stormed into the top 10. Will the experiences from last season help to keep it that way? Binder and Lecuona have now competed twice in MotoGP at MotorLand, which could not be said of Silverstone.
Miguel Oliveira will also be looking for a lot more from MotorLand. The Portuguese was absolutely in action at the beginning of this season, but he hasn’t collected any points since Assen because of his Styrian injury. With proven talent, speed and cleverness, the second RC-16 factory driver will certainly reappear at the top again, but sooner rather than a little later?
This time it’s an attack on Aragon for MotoGP and there’s a lot to consider.