Last weekend the Grand Prix of Aragón was held at the Motorland Aragón. The race weekend was without fans at the grandstands, the time schedule was a little bit delayed due to cold temperatures in the morning. It was another thrilling race weekend of MotoGP, the qualifying indicated some race favourites but in the end in the race everything was different. The fans witnessed another breath-taking race on Sunday. Here is the review.
Fabio Quartararo had a serious crash on Saturday morning. Luckily nothing was broken but he had injured his hip and he probably suffered from a lot of pain. However, he did amazing job during the qualification and he took pole position. He started quite well to the race on Sunday. He seemed to be in the podium fight, he was racing on the second place. However, after a few laps of the race he started to lose position by position, riders were overtaking him one by one. Something went clearly wrong. This was terrible view for his fans. In the second half of the race he was really fighting to stay at least on points but he wasn’t able to do it. He finished 18th. No points for him for the Championship. This may be another crucial moment of the season. How many more turnarounds we will see until the end of the season, it’s been really crazy year and everything plays its role. After the race Fabio has said that he had problems with the front tyre and it was very difficult to race.
Alex Rins started only from P10 and probably nobody counted with him as with the serious victory candidate in the race. He had unbelievably rocket start and he moved up to 4th place. It didn’t take him a long time to overtake other riders and he moved up to 2nd place. He was chasing the leader of the race and after a few laps he caught him and then also overtook him. In lap number 8 he was already the race leader. He did great job, he had great pace and great speed. Personally, I was surprised with his performance. During the race some other riders tried to attack him but he defended his place in a good way and he managed to keep this position until the end of the race. He took his first season victory and he became 8th rider who has won a race this year! Well done.
After the stunning performance in Le Mans Alex Márquez was in a great shape again. He showed a good performance already in the qualifying, he started from 11th place to the race which was really good for him. He didn’t have as amazing start as Rins but during the race he was able to overtake his rivals pretty easily and he was slowly coming towards the ones in the front. He had a good speed and good rhythm and around the half of the race he was already serious contender for another podium finish. He was fourth for a few laps, then he was third for some time, then he moved to second. He started to chase Rins but Rins was very strong. However, Márquez did another great race, it was really thrilling to watch his ride through the field, it was breath-taking to watch both of them Rins and also Márquez, both of them did such a great job in the race. Alex Márquez finished second and it was a wonderful result for him. He’s been doing some steps of learning, he starts to understand the Honda bike pretty well, it seems.
For many people Joan Mir was one of the race favourites. His position wasn’t that bad so why not. He started from 6th place, he had a decent start and was around P5 – P6 at the beginning of the race. Then he was able to move some places and to move to the podium battle. In the second half of the race he was second, behind his team mate Alex Rins. There were some nail-bitting moments for Suzuki, it would have been an incredible achievement if they were able to take double. However, Márquez was doing great job and Mir lost a place to him. In the final laps he had some problems with the front part of the bike so he couldn’t try to attack Márquez properly but at least he took another podium finish. He was 3rd and this consistency of results seems to be the key of this year’s Championship.
Maverick Viñales started from the front row and surprisingly he had a great start. He went into the lead of the race and he was leading the race for 7 laps. Then Rins came and overtook him. However, Viñales tried to fight for some other podium position but it seemed like it wasn’t the day of Yamaha. He dropped some more places to P4. In the final stage of the race he seemed to find some pace and he was actually closing on third Mir but there wasn’t enough time. Viñales was 4th but after two bad results this was a good race and result for him and also at least he saved Yamaha in the race a little bit.
I need to praise Takaaki Nakagami. He wasn’t seen very often on the broadcast but his ride was very good, he did great job and he finished 5th which meant that Honda had 2 bikes inside Top 5. Franco Morbidelli seemed to have a good race, after the start it looked like he could fight for the podium but he was another Yamaha rider suffering. However, 6th place wasn’t bad at all.
Andrea Dovizioso started from P13, after the start he avoided any clashes this time. He had a good start and moved inside Top 10. During the race he was able to overtake some riders and he finished the race on the 7th place.
Cal Crutchlow started from the front row but at the start something didn’t go according to the plan because he lost many places. He was down to P12. How the race was going he was able to fight for places and made it up to Top 10 as he crossed the finish line on the 8th place. His good friend Jack Miller also didn’t have an ideal race. He started from the second row but in the race he dropped a little bit and he finished the race on the 9th place.
Johann Zarco had a good race, he didn’t have the best starting position but in the race he moved some positions and he made it into Top 10, he was exactly 10th.
It was not a good day for KTM. None of their riders was able to take Top 10 finish. The best KTM rider was Brad Binder who finished 11th. His team mate Pol Espargaró was just right behind him. Another KTM riders were 14th Iker Lecuona and 16th Miguel Oliveira.
Aleix Espargaró was able to grab some points for Aprilia, he was 13th. Something had to happen to Danilo Petrucci. The Le Mans winner started from 8th place but he quite suffered in the race and he crossed the finish line only on the 15th place and so took just a point.
Francesco Bagnaia didn’t have a good weekend. He had problems during the whole weekend, in all the sessions he was in the back positions. He started only from 17th place to the race, he didn’t do any big progress after the start. In lap 2 he had a crash and he was the only one rider who didn’t finish the race.
Unfortunately Valentino Rossi has been declared unfit to race and he will certainly have to skip also the next race weekend. Some days ago he was tested positive for covid-19 and he also felt quite sick. What a shame. I just wish him all the best, speedy recovery and hopefully we will see him back on the track very soon.
Let’s look at the Championship standing because this race has changed everything once again. Even though Joan Mir is still yet to win a MotoGP race he is now the new Championship leader! That’s why I’ve said that the consistency is the key. He has 121 points. Fabio Quartararo has fallen down to second with 115 points, Maverick Viñales is now third with 109 points. Andrea Dovizioso is on the fourth place as he has 106 points. In this crazy season don’t discount Takaaki Nakagami, he is fifth, he has 92 points and he is actually in the title battle as well as he doesn’t lose many points on the leader!
The next race weekend will be at the Motorland Aragón again, it will be the Grand Prix of Teruel. This GP will be held from 23rd to 25th October.
MotoGP AragonGP race results:
Photo: MotoGP
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