The season of 2020 in MotoGP was restarted last week in Spain at the Jerez track and for this week the teams and their riders stay at this place for another race weekend. Here is the preview ahead of Grand Prix of Andalucía.
Because of the covid-19 situation the race calendar has been shortened and riders will be racing twice at some tracks. This is the case also with Jerez. Each Grand Prix has to have its own unique name so this weekend the riders will attend the Andalusian GP. As well as the week ago, also this race weekend will take place behind the closed doors and with some satefy restrictions.
The Ángel Nieto circuit is nearby the town of Jerez, it was built in 1986 and just a year later its first Grand Prix was organized there. This place is also well-known for its building above the finish line. The circuit is 4.4 km long and 11 m wide. The longest straight is 607 m long and the circuit has 13 corners from which 5 are left and 8 are right. There are some corners with famous names, for example Michelin, Ferrari, Sito Pons, Jorge Martínez “Aspar”, Ángel Nieto, Alex Crivillé, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo, there is also Ayrton Senna chicane. When it comes to the overtaking spots, turn number 1 is good for that as riders coming there after the long finish line and they can use the slipstream. Also popular turns for overtaking are corners number 6 and 13.
It looks like it will be another very hot race weekend. Same as last weekend also this weekend it should be sunny and the temperatures should attack 37°C in the afternoon.
MotoGP
Fabio Quartararo is the Championship leader after he took his first ever MotoGP victory last weekend. His victory and the whole performance may be a huge self-confidence boost for him for the upcoming races. He was competitive during the Spanish GP and now as the teams have already some data from their first Jerez race he will belong among the favourites again. It will be interesting to watch if he is able to win both races at this track this year. It won’t be easy for him as there are some other riders who would like to take that top step on the podium.
Fabio Quartararo
Maverick Viñales will be one of the main rivals for Quartararo. He already showed great performance last weekend, just maybe not the best tyre choice stopped him from trying to catch Quartararo and fight with him until the last lap. Now the team has some valuable informations from the last week’s race and it looks like the weather and the conditions will be very similar also this week so Viñales definitely can take the victory this weekend.
Ducati looked strong last weekend so we have to count with them again. Despite his injury Andrea Dovizioso took 3rd position last weekend and he can battle for podium also this weekend. Also Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia from the Pramac Racing showed great performance and they can be in the podium battle too. It’s difficult to predict Danilo Petrucci‘s shape, he didn’t feel very well in the past week due to his injury and some other issues. Now he has some days to rest so hopefully he will feel better during the upcoming weekend and he will be able to fight on top too.
Francesco Bagnaia
Fabio Quartararo’s team mate Franco Morbidelli is dark horse of the race. He did great job last week and in the race he was fighting for the podium. So I think that this week we also have to watch him.
There was impressive performance from KTM at the Spanish GP. Both, Brad Binder and Pol Espargaró were really happy about the bike and about the performance so hopefully they will be able to continue in this way. Also Tech 3‘s Miguel Oliveira did great race, he finished in Top 10 and also he showed the potential of the bike. Unfortunately Iker Lecuona didn’t finish the race due to some health concers but this week he will have another chance.
Miguel Oliveira
It was good race for Yamaha, Ducati and KTM in Jerez but it was a weekend to forget for Honda. Takaaki Nakagami is the best Honda rider in the Championship standings but he is only 10th. Honda had really hard times with their two most experienced riders being injured. Cal Crutchlow couldn’t start to the race due to his injury from morning’s warm up. Marc Márquez started and did great job, but unfortunately he crashed and didn’t finish the race. So Nakagami and Alex Márquez, the rookie, had to try to save the terrible day for the manufacturer. It looks like this weekend it will be similar for Honda as both, Marc Márquez and Cal Crutchlow have undergone a surgery. Márquez’s arm has been fixed with a plate and luckily it has been announced that there is no nerve damage. He definitely won’t race this weekend. Cal Crutchlow also had to undergo a surgery on his broken wrist. His injury shouldn’t be very serious and Cal’s target is to race this weekend but we will see what condition he will be in and if the doctors will let him race.
Aprilia has also a lot of work ahead of them. Bradley Smith took 1 point for 15th place and Aleix Espargaró didn’t finish the first race in Jerez. During the tests Aprilia looked pretty promissing so the Jerez result was a little bit disappointing. They will have another chance this weekend to improve in Jerez.
Joan Mir
If Honda had terrible race weekend then Suzuki experienced absolute disaster. After the 1st race of the season they have 0 points. Alex Rins was unfortunate with the Q2 crash, he injured his shoulder and wasn’t allowed to race on Sunday. Luckily, it looks like his injury isn’t that serious to need an operation. Alex is already trying to hurry the recovery and the rehabilitation, he would like to race this weekend and if the doctors will really let him race, it will be very difficult for him in the heat, I guess. So the team had to count only with Joan Mir for the race but unfortunately he crashed shortly after the race started.
Fabio Quartararo set the All Time Lap Record last weekend with 1:36.705. He did this time in the qualification. The Best Race Lap is still in Marc Mráquez’s hands, in 2019 he rode 1:38.051. The Top Speed record was broken last weekend when Andrea Dovizioso did 296.7 km/h.
Moto2
Tetsuta Nagashima is the Championship leader in Moto2. He won in Qatar in March and he took second position last weekend in Jerez. So at the moment he has 45 points and it looks like he is in great shape and we can expect that he will try to keep the momentum. It was great move from Aki Ajo to sign a contract with Nagashima, it seems. So far he rewards him his trust.
Tetsuta Nagashima
Tetsuta Nagashima has quite a comfortable lead just after two race weekends. He has a margin of 17 points ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri. The Italian showed great performance in Qatar where he finished 2nd but in Jerez he didn’t belong among the best ones. He finished 8th but still kept the 2nd position overall. This weekend he will have another chance to improve in Jerez and he is definitely able to improve as Jerez is a track where he used to do well, he won in Jerez in 2018 and 2019.
Luca Marini showed great performance last weekend in Jerez, his ride was great and he took 25 points for the well deserved victory. He didn’t score any points back then in Qatar but with these 25 points he is back in the game and definitely ready to fight for another podium finish this weekend.
Luca Marini
Nagashima’s team mate Jorge Martín did great job in Jerez as well. He started from pole position, which was his first Moto2 pole position, he managed the race really well and finished third. So we have to count with him this weekend again. As he didn’t take any points in Qatar, he has 16 points in the Championship and currently occupies 7th place.
There are some other riders who can fight for the podium. Sam Lowes showed great pace and performance last weekend, the rookie Aron Canet has been impressive so far during the season, also his team mate Hafizh Syahrin has done good job so far. Enea Bastianini is 4th overall, Remy Gardner is 5th overall so these two are also worth to watch. Marco Bezzecchi crashed in Jerez just when he was battling for his first ever Moto2 podium so we can expect he will try it again this weekend. He has an ankle injury from a training from a month ago, he still uses crutches as he walks but last weekend he showed that an injury wouldn’t stop him from doing an impressive job.
Spanish GP
Jorge Navarro, Marcel Schrötter and Thomas Lüthi are the ones who belong among the favourites but they had hard race last weekend as all of them crashed. So they will definitely would like to take some good result this weekend. Also Fabio Di Giannantonio would like to improve, he had to retire from the race last week. Augusto Fernández has a difficult season so far so also he aims to improve.
The Best Pole lap is still held by Jorge Navarro, in 2019 he did 1:41.182. The Best Race Lap record is held by Lorenzo Baldassarri who did 1:41.539 in 2019. Also the Top Speed record hasn’t been broken yet, in 2018 Federico Fuligni went 259.3 km/h. But last weekend the All Time Lap Record was broken as Marcel Schrötter did 1:41.109 during FP3.
Moto3
In Moto3 Albert Arenas has been unbeatable in races so far. He won in Qatar, he won in Jerez last weekend so he is the Championship leader with the maximum of 50 points. Moto3 is unstable category with lots of great talents and lots of fights so it’s not an easy thing to win two races in a row. So definitely it will be hard for him to keep this and win another one. There are so many riders who would like to spoil his hattrick attempt.
Albert Arenas
Ai Ogura is 2nd in the Championship standings and for me personally he is the surprise of the year, so far. He took a podium finish in both races, he was 3rd in Qatar and 2nd last weekend. He has 36 points and this very talented Japanese rider is able to battle for another podium finish. Despite the crash in the last lap last weekend, John McPhee keeps 3rd position overall. He was 2nd in Qatar and then fought for another podium in Jerez last weekend but had a very unfortunate crash. So we can expect that he will try to redress this moment and will fight for the podium this weekend.
Then there are 3 riders with the same amount of points. All, Jaume Masia, Tatsuki Suzuki and Gabriel Rodrigo have 19 points but Masia is 4th in the standings as he has the best race results from these. He had great race in Qatar where he did fight for a podium but then finished 4th, in Jerez his performance was not that amazing but we still need to watch him. In Moto3 we have to watch everybody. Tatsuki Suzuki started from pole position in Qatar and also in Jerez, just then he was a little bit unfortunate with some manoeuvres and with the battles in the group on top. But he definitely is one of the podium contenders. Also Gabriel Rodrigo had some unfortunate moments but he belongs among the favourites.
Spanish GP
After some struggles in Qatar, Tony Arbolino came back to the top places in Jerez. After Qatar he had just one point but he finished 3rd in Jerez so he moved up the order and now he is 7th overall. So it seems like Tony is back and ready to fight for top.
There are so many riders who are able to battle for the podium. If I just wrote down the whole start list I wouldn’t be wrong, I guess. I would like to write about lots of other riders but I don’t want this preview to be never ending. However, I need to mention also Raul Fernández, Andrea Migno, Celestino Vietti, Niccolò Antonelli, Jeremy Alcoba and Darryn Binder. We really need to count with these riders.
The Jerez records in the Moto3 category were broken last weekend. The Best Pole record is held by Tatsuki Suzuki who did 1:45.465 and this time is also the All Time Lap Record. Sergio García holds the Best Race Lap record with 1:46.165. The only record which wasn’t broken last weekend is the Top Speed one. In 2014 Alex Márquez went 220 km/h.
MotoE
MotoE season 2020 started last weekend in Jerez and Eric Granado was the man of the week. He literally stole the show as he won all the sessions, he started from pole position and he did great job in the race and achieved well deserved victory. So it will be very interesting to see if he is able to repeat this performance also this weekend. Last weekend some other riders showed great potential so with some data and informations available, I guess that Granado’s situation will not be very easy.
Eric Granado
Matteo Ferrari is the defending Champion and he is definitely able to fight with Granado. Last weekend he did a little mistake during the race and then he wasn’t able to catch Granado. However, he started the season really good, P2 is a good beginning and this weekend he will try to be an equal rival for Granado.
Last weekend some rookies showed huge potential, especially Dominique Aegerter and Lukas Tulovic. Tulovic started from the front row, battled for the podium in the race but in the end it was 4th place for him. Aegerter also started from the front row, he did great race and finished 3rd. These two riders are worth to watch. I’m really interested in what they will show during the weekend.
There are some other riders capable to fight on top, for example Mattia Casadei, Niccolò Canepa (who was unfortunate with the EPole crash last weekend) or Alex de Angelis (who jumped the start last weekend).
Spanish GP
Xavier Simeon, Mike Di Meglio and Niki Tuuli are considered as the Championship favourites but they didn’t have the best race result in Jerez, at least I personally thought they would do better. So this weekend they will have another chance to improve and to fight for Top 6 but after the first race of the year it looks like it won’t be an easy task for them as the whole field is very competitive and all the riders are very close in terms of performance.
As it was their first race in Jerez, the records were set last weekend and all of them are held by Eric Granado. The Pole Lap record is 1:48.620, the All Time Lap Record is 1:47.656 and it is also the Best Race Lap.
The schedule
Here is the Andalusian GP schedule:
Friday 24th July
- 09:00 – 09:40 Moto3 FP1
- 09:55 – 10:40 MotoGP FP1
- 10:55 – 11:35 Moto2 FP1
- 11:50 – 12:20 MotoE FP1
- 13:15 – 13:55 Moto3 FP2
- 14:10 – 14:55 MotoGP FP2
- 15:10 – 15:50 Moto2 FP2
- 16:05 – 16:35 MotoE FP2
Saturday 25th July
- 09:00 – 09:40 Moto3 FP3
- 09:55 – 10:40 MotoGP FP3
- 10:55 – 11:35 Moto2 FP3
- 11:50 – 12:20 MotoE FP3
- 12:35 – 12:50 Moto3 QP1
- 13:00 – 13:15 Moto3 QP2
- 13:30 – 14:00 MotoGP FP4
- 14:10 – 14:25 MotoGP QP1
- 14:35 – 14:50 MotoGP QP2
- 15:10 – 15:25 Moto2 QP1
- 15:35 – 15:50 Moto2 QP2
- 16:05 – 17:00 MotoE EPole
Sunday 26th July
- 08:20 – 08:40 Moto3 WUP
- 08:50 – 09:10 Moto2 WUP
- 09:20 – 09:40 MotoGP WUP
- 10:05 MotoE Race
- 11:00 Moto3 Race
- 12:20 Moto2 Race
- 14:00 MotoGP Race
Photo: MotoGP
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