By Dean AdamsMotoGP
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has looked unstoppable for much of the weekend at MotorLand Aragon, and that was no different come race day. In his 200th Grand Prix, the reigning Champion couldn’t be caught, escaping the pack early and managing the gap to give himself a 98-point lead heading into Thailand. In other words, Championship point…
That was despite an impressive comeback from Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), with the Italian starting tenth and made to work for it as he made his way through the pack to come home second. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) completed the podium, the Australian playing his cards to perfection for a late lunge on Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in the fight for third.
It was Marquez who got the holeshot from pole, Plan A executed to perfection as a lightning start saw the number 93 beat Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) into Turn 1, with Miller getting a good launch from P4 on the grid to take P3. Viñales slipped to P4 with Quartararo giving chase to Marquez on the opening lap, but by the time they crossed the line, the reigning Champion was a second down the road.
Meanwhile, there was drama early on for the fast-starting Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), the Spaniard overcooking a move at Turn 12 and barrelling into Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT). The latter crashed out, with Rins dropping to P17 as up the road, Marquez was powering clear. Miller was now the man leading the chase but the gap was quickly up to 1.8 seconds by Lap 4, with the race rapidly becoming a battle for the remaining podium places.
In that fight, Miller was holding off the Yamahas of Viñales and Quartararo, but it wasn’t too long until Viñales got the better of the Frenchman and then immediately started to reel in Miller’s half-second advantage. He passed the Australian on Lap 8 as the riders inside the top seven bunched up, with Dovizioso up behind Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) holding off Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) in sixth and seventh.
Lap 9 saw Dovi pounce on Quartararo’s Yamaha and the Italian locked his radar onto the back of fellow GP19 rider Miller, with Viñales the man up next. Soon after, Dovi made his move on Miller at Turn 1, but the Pramac rider wasn’t going to cave in easy as and the duo then started to haul in Viñales. The three were split by just a second heading into the last handful of laps and as Viñales started to fade, he was under increasing pressure.
Three to go and Viñales was still holding onto P2, but Dovizioso used the Ducati power to grab P2 down the back straight, leaving Miller to try and pounce on the Yamaha next. The Australian waited until Turn 1 on the last lap, just about getting it stopped and keeping it together for the rest of the lap for an impressive third podium of the season. Dovi had second wrapped up and coming onto the back straight for the final time, there was nothing more Viñales could do.
And so Marquez crossed the line for his fourth straight win at MotorLand on his 200th Grand Prix start to extend his lead to 98 points. Dovizioso’s recovery from P10 was completed in an ever-intelligent ride to second, with Miller impressing to complete the podium and take top Independent Team rider honours.
Viñales was left disappointed with fourth but it was a valiant effort nonetheless, with Quartararo coming home just behind the Spaniard to complete the top five and take another good haul of points after a mature ride on the limit. Crutchlow produced a solid showing to finish P6 for the third time in four races, the British rider just edging out Aleix Espargaro. The sterling effort from the Aprilia rider secured his best result of the season, and the best for the Noale factory so far in 2019.
Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was in the battle for the top five in the early stages before the nine-time World Champion dropped back to P8, with Rins fighting back to P9 after his opening lap incident and a subsequent Long Lap penalty. LCR Honda Idemitsu’s Takaaki Nakagami won an intense battle for the top 10 which saw him take on Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Ducati Team’s Danilo Petrucci, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), with the group all finishing within two seconds of each other in that order. Tito Rabat (Reale Avinita Racing) took the final point in P15.
Now, it’s time for the flyaways. First up is the PTT Thailand Grand Prix and it’s almost all Marquez’ to lose. 98 points ahead, he just has to outscore Dovizioso by two points and leave for Japan with an advantage of 100 or more. Will he wrap it up? Find out in two weeks.
Marc Marquez: “It was the perfect weekend, we did an amazing job all weekend, from the beginning we started in a good way to understand how it was, we raced the setup we started with in FP1, something for the first time all year. But apart from this, the strategy of the race was clever, I was clear about my strategy and I pushed a lot in the first three laps then tried to manage the distance I’m happy, because it was a good 25 points but this guy here never gives up! He’s still pushing, but in Thailand we have the first match point and I’ll do my best.”
Repsol Honda
Untouchable Marquez reels in victory at 200th Grand Prix
Marc Marquez completed a perfect home weekend with a faultless 23-lap race where the World Championship leader delivered on his early weekend domination. Unfortunately teammate Jorge Lorenzo was left wanting more after a difficult race.
With a perfect start, Marc Marquez shot forward and immediately began to open an advantage of half a second after just a few corners, growing to a full second by the end of the first lap. Lapping on average half a second faster than the riders behind him for most of the race saw Marquez quickly build an insurmountable lead, 5.5 seconds clear by mid-race distance.
Viñales managed to gain a few tenths during the middle of the race, but Marquez quickly responded to stabilise the gap. Ultimately unchallenged, Marquez took his 78th career victory from 200 Grand Prix starts by 4.8 seconds in front of his adoring home fans. He now leaves Aragon with a clean 300 World Championship points, 98-points in front of second placed Andrea Dovizioso.
Like his teammate, Jorge Lorenzo charged off the line and soon found himself closing in on the top ten after just a few laps. Lorenzo’s progress continued and he became entangled in a battle with LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami before unfortunately dropping outside of the points. A lack of rear grip after the first laps betrayed Lorenzo’s pace and saw him unable to deliver on the potential he showed at the beginning of the weekend.
The weekend’s results leave Honda 65 points clear of second placed Ducati in the Constructor Championship and as a result of Marquez’s victory, the Repsol Honda Team move to within 24 points of the Ducati Team in the Team Championship.
Both riders and team now begin their preparations for the Thai GP on October 06. The Buriram race marks the start of the most intense part of the MotoGP season with four races in fives weeks and presents Marquez with his first chance to take the 2019 MotoGP World Championship.
Marc Marquez
1st
“I was convinced about my strategy and what I had to do. I had a good feeling from when I left the box, so I knew I could push in the beginning and open a gap of four or five seconds and just keep it there, not pushing too much. I saw at one stage of the race that Viñales closed in a little, so I pushed a little more for two or three laps and I stabilised the advantage. It looked easy but it wasn’t, we have been working hard all weekend to find the limit. It was amazing to win here in front of our home fans so I have to say thank you to them all!”
Jorge Lorenzo
20th
“At the start of the race I was very hopeful of a good result as I made a very strong start and I was quite competitive in the opening laps. Unfortunately I felt a lot of drop on the rear tyre and I struggled for rear grip from early in the race. I tried to manage it by being as smooth as possible, but I dropped back little by little. It’s a pity, I would have rather started the race poorly and finished strong. But still we can take positives as we have learned more about the setting and I was pleased with how some sessions went this weekend. Congratulations to Marc and the Repsol Honda Team for a great win.”
LCR
Cal Crutchlow claimed a fine top-six finish at the Grand Prix of Aragon on Sunday to sign off in impressive style ahead of the flyaway races. The LCR Honda CASTROL rider was pleased with his performance after a difficult weekend at Misano last time out and is looking to take his momentum into the final rounds of the 2019 season.
Having gone second fastest in a damp warm up session, Crutchlow was always looking to be involved towards the front of the field in Sunday’s race. Although the Briton could not get as close to the leaders as he wanted after some early difficulties, a late pass on Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro ensured he moved into the top six and got good reward for his weekend’s work.
Cal Crutchlow – 6th
“I’m happy with that, I think today was a race we had to finish after last week’s disaster, so to come here and get a good result in Aragon, we’re happy with that. I just lost too much time, I got caught in some stupid battles on the first lap and then in the middle of the race I also ran off the track and lost another couple of seconds. I’m pleased with my pace overall, we didn’t think the race was going to be as fast as that for a start and we also held our pace throughout the race pretty well. I was able to make some good passes and get a top-six here in Aragon.”
Tech 3
Oliveira is back in the fight – Syahrin struggles in Aragon GP
Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira showed a stunning battle for the top 10 today at Motorland Aragon. After his shoulder injury causing him a lot of pain during the past weeks, the MotoGP rookie started today’s race from P17 in the grid and immediately made his way towards the points scoring positions. In an exciting and tough 23 laps long scuffle, he emerged 13th.
In the meantime, Hafizh Syahrin was 21st after the first sector, maintaining his starting position. In the course of the sunny race, the Malaysian made his way up to P18, but made a mistake a few laps to the end, so he eventually saw the chequered flag in P21.
Miguel Oliveira
Position: 13th
Championship: 17th
Points: 29
“It was a good race today, we had a decent fight with strong riders, which makes me happy. It was difficult to overtake, especially in the last laps, but I was there in this group, fighting. I thought we have the potential for a bit more today, but at the same time it was nice to finish the race like this after not scoring the last two rounds, so now I feel much calmer and more relaxed to approach the upcoming challenges.”
Hafizh Syahrin
Position: 21st
Championship: 24th
Points: 7
“It was a hard race! In the beginning, there were many touches with other riders, going wide and it was difficult to come out of this without any harm. I tried to manage a good rhythm after I passed Abraham and aimed to try to catch Kallio, but in the end in turn 12, I couldn’t stop the bike, so I went onto the gravel and I just came back behind Lorenzo. It was very close, but not enough. The last races were truly not good for me, I just want to keep working hard and try to understand more. We have five races more, which is going to be long, but we try everything.”
Hervé Poncharal
Team Manager
“I would like to say, good race to Miguel, because he’s been in a very strong group with a factory Ducati, a factory Honda and a factory Aprilia and we could see that these guys were side by side, fighting each other. The only thing is, that I feel we had the pace for 10th. Unfortunately, we never managed to pass Petrucci, who was clearly slowing us down and allowing the riders behind to catch us. At the end of the day, that doesn’t make a big difference, but clearly, I believe we had a better pace than our final race position. Anyway, let’s take the positives; Miguel is still not back at 100% on the shoulder. It’s a big improvement since last week in Misano, so hopefully he will be 100% fit in Thailand. He is now unfortunately because of Pol’s injury the KTM leader, so we have to keep that in mind and we need to continue pushing to give the right information to KTM, but we are happy to see Miguel fighting like this. I think it was quite a positive weekend altogether. On the other side, I was excited to see Hafizh to see Hafizh fighting with Lorenzo, Smith and Abraham. It was a good fight, he was ahead of them two or three laps to go and unluckily made a big mistake and finished at the back of the group, which is a shame. Nothing works with Hafizh at the moment, he should have been in front of that group. We can only carry on to support him, to show him our dedication and to give him as much support as possible, but nothing really works. I feel sorry and a bit disappointed about that. Anyway, the next race is going to be closer to his home, so let’s hope this is going to give him a boost. Now we have a big job to pack up everything here in Aragon, to ship all the freight for the four flyaway rounds, which is a tough mission and once that will be done, a few days rest and hello Thailand!”
Ducati
GP Michelin de Aragón: superb podium for Andrea Dovizioso, second ahead of the Ducati Pramac of Jack Miller. Danilo Petrucci finishes the race in twelfth place
Andrea Dovizioso scored a podium finish at the Gran Premio Michelin de Aragón after a spectacular comeback through the field, following a row 4 start, that helped him to catch, at the mid point of the race, Miller and Viñales who were fighting for second position. Andrea then passed the Pramac rider and set off after the Spaniard, whom he overtook on lap 21 to finish the race in a superb runner-up slot ahead of Miller.
It was a difficult race for Danilo Petrucci, who started from row 5. The rider from Umbria, who opted to fit a hard rear, moved up to ninth place on lap 8 but in the final stages he suffered a tyre drop and lost several positions, finishing the GP in twelfth.
In the Riders’ standings Andrea Dovizioso remains in second place, 98 points behind leader Marquez, while Danilo Petrucci drops to fourth place, one point behind Rins.
Ducati remains in second place in the Constructors’ classification and the Ducati Team first in the special Teams’ ranking.
Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 2nd
“It was very important to get back onto the podium after the races at Silverstone and Misano, and so today I’m very happy, especially because of the way in which we were able to get this second place. I started tenth from the fourth row because of a mistake I made in qualifying yesterday, but I knew I had a good pace and on the grid we made the right choice of tyres, going for the soft rear. In the race I was constant right until the very end, I saved my tyres and managed to gain place after place until I could pass Jack and Maverick to finish the GP in second place”.
Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) – 12th
“It was a very difficult race for me. I tried for a bit to fight in ninth place because I didn’t have the pace of the frontrunners, but towards the end of the race I suffered a drop in the rear tyre and lost some places to finish twelfth. Probably the hard rear was not the best choice and I could do little else than limit the damage. Now we have a short break before leaving for Thailand and we will have to try and understand what is missing so we can get back to being as fast as we were in the first half of the season”.
Yamaha
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Maverick Viñales made the absolute most of his Yamaha‘s nimble character in the first three sectors of the MotorLand Aragón, but he couldn’t keep late chasing rivals at bay, finishing the race just off the podium in fourth place. Valentino Rossi was unable to mix in with the competitors in front. He rode a lonely race, taking eighth place.
Viñales lost just one position, from third to fourth, as he turned into the first tight left corner. He was stalking fellow Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo, knowing he could lap faster than him he was trying to figure out where to make his move. Once he did on lap 5, he was quick to put the pressure on Jack Miller next.
The local hero was pushing to the limit. With 16 laps to go he made a very brave move around the outside of Miller and then pulled away through Turn 10 and 11. Lying in second place with an over 4s gap to the front, Viñales mostly focused on maintaining the margin over the group of five riders behind him. Ultimately only Andrea Dovizioso and Miller were able to keep up. The number-12 rider did everything to fend off the chasing rivals but was unable to do so, finishing the race in fourth place 5.811s from first.
Rossi had a good start from sixth on the grid, maintaining his position, but was struggling to cut through the pack in the first few laps. He lost a place to both Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow and was unable to stay in the 1‘49s after lap 7 due to rear tyre degradation. It soon resulted in a lonely ride for the Doctor, with a 6s-gap to ninth and a growing gap to seventh.
Though the Italian didn‘t find a good rhythm in the latter stages of the race around the Aragon track, he put in a brave ride. Rossi maintained his eighth place as he brought his bike across the finish line. He took the chequered flag with a 23.623s gap to the front.
Today’s fourth place sees Viñales stay fifth in the championship standings, one place ahead of Rossi, with ten points between them. Yamaha remains third in the constructor standings, and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP also stay in third place in the team classification.
Viñales and Rossi next travel to the Chang International Circuit for the PTT Thailand Grand Prix, held from October 4-6.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
“It was an unexpectedly difficult race for us. Maverick and Vale suffered from rear tyre degradation. Valentino already at the beginning and Maverick later on, and in the latter’s case it cost him a podium. Losing a place on the rostrum on the last lap is of course very disappointing. During the practice sessions we never faced these tyre-drop problems, because the time we had didn’t allow us to do a long run. We don’t know if the change was due to the rain that fell yesterday, but anyway it is what it is. It is difficult to accept these results, because we were strong in all the sessions, so finishing off the podium isn’t in line with what we were expecting. Still, compared to last year, our performance over the weekend shows that we are consistently improving, but that said, we still have work to do.”
MAVERICK VIÑALES
“I knew second place was possible today, so I pushed and pushed and pushed, but finally, in the last two laps, the tyre was very much on the limit. I tried my best. I nearly crashed two or three times because of the rear and thought ’OK, today I have to be fourth, that‘s the maximum‘. I‘m actually happy that I was very strong in the middle of the race. At the end I didn‘t have enough grip on the tyres to keep going, but I‘m once again the first Yamaha, which is important to us. I tried to close the door everywhere to Dovi, but in the end it was impossible, on the straight I stood no chance.”
VALENTINO ROSSI
“I knew yesterday it would be difficult to fight for the podium because three or four guys were faster than me, but today was worse because after some laps I had to slow down. I didn‘t have grip and I had some kind of problem with the tyres, it happened a little like it did in Silverstone. To me, it‘s not a problem of the tyres, it‘s our problem. We always struggle with the grip on the rear, and because of this lack of grip we also damage the tyre more, so in the end it was a very difficult race. It looks like everybody on the hard rear tyre had some problems, also the other Yamahas, but more towards the end. I started having problems earlier on. But I don‘t know if we could have done better on the soft, because during the practice the soft wasn‘t very good for our bike.”
KTM
13th for Oliveira at Aragon as Binder and Canet celebrate Grand Prix wins
MotoGP 2019 Round 14 of 19, MotorLand Aragon (ESP) – RACE
Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira took his Red Bull KTM RC16 to 13th place after 23 intense laps of a bright MotorLand Aragon today. Pol Espargaro sat out the fourteenth Grand Prix of 2019 with a left wrist injury that required surgery Sunday morning. KTM celebrated success at the Gran Premio Michelin de Aragon with Brad Binder victorious in Moto2 and Aron Canet winning in Moto3.
Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira defied the discomfort of his weak right shoulder to battle on the fringes of the top ten of the Gran Premio Michelin de Aragon. The Portuguese set an impressive pace after starting from 16th place on the grid and was beaten by just two hundredths of a second in the chase for 12th position by Danilo Petrucci. His classification represented the eighth time the rookie has posted points in the premier class of the FIM World Championship.
Close to opening his account on a comeback to full-time MotoGP racing was Mika Kallio. The Red Bull KTM man circulated just behind Oliveira but felt the pace of his first Grand Prix event in over a year and crossed the finish line in 17th. Hafizh Syahrin was five-spots further back in 21st after running off the track.
Pol Espargaro will spend 24 hours in hospital after his operation to insert a titanium plate on the multi-fragment fracture of the left distal radius and an assessment of the recovery period two days later.
After back-to-back fixtures in Italy and Spain MotoGP now enters a phase of four events outside of Europe. There is a two-day test scheduled at MotorLand this week but then the PTT Thailand Grand Prix at the Chang International Circuit will host round fifteen in a fortnight.
Miguel Oliveira: “It was a good race today. We had a decent fight with strong riders; which makes me happy. It was difficult to overtake, especially in the last laps, but I was there fighting. I thought we had the potential for a bit more today but at the same time it was nice to finish the race like this after not scoring the last two rounds. I feel much calmer and more relaxed to approach the upcoming challenges.”
Mika Kallio: “My last MotoGP race was a long time ago so it was difficult to find the rhythm and get on the same level as the others. We needed the laps today and I think we did quite OK. Everything can always be better but for the first weekend it was alright and we made kept the mistakes to a minimum. The only disappointing thing was missing out of the points and I think maybe I made a mistake with the tyre choice. I was missing experience with how the soft or the hard would behave. We made good times in tricky conditions and I always like those and I had a good feeling with the bike. Who knows? Maybe we can have a race like that in the rest of the season. We’ll set some target now for the rest of the weekends this year. We’ll see how it goes in Thailand.”
Hafizh Syahrin: “It was a hard race! In the beginning, there were many touches with other riders, going wide and it was difficult to come out of this without any harm. I tried to manage a good rhythm and aimed to try to catch Kallio but in the end in turn 12, I couldn’t stop the bike, so I went onto the gravel and I just came back behind Lorenzo. It was very close but not enough. We have five races more, which is going to be long, but we try everything.”
Mike Leitner, Red Bull KTM Team Manager: “The first race for Mika and until the second phase it was going pretty well as he could stay with the group near the top ten. Of course he is missing experience with the correct race tyre and strategy but we’re happy with what he did. The rear tyre choice stopped him getting into the points. Miguel had a great race and a big fight with other riders and we’re happy with that performance. We missed Pol and he was performing well this weekend up until the crash but he had successful surgery this morning and we wish him all the best. We have the test on Tuesday and Wednesday now and then we’ll look to Thailand.”
Aprilia
OUTSTANDING TEAM EFFORT FOR THE APRILIAS AT ARAGÓN
ALEIX BATTLES WITH THE TOP TEN AND FINISHES SEVENTH FIVE SECONDS FROM THE PODIUM
ANDREA, SUFFERING WITH PAIN IN HIS SHOULDER, BATTLES AND FINISHES JUST OUTSIDE THE TOP TEN
At Aragón Aprilia takes the best result of the season, with Aleix Espargaró finishing seventh, but close to the leaders, and Andrea Iannone, still suffering with pain in his shoulder after the Misano accident, finishing eleventh.
After the good sessions yesterday that had placed him on the second row, Aleix started off strong, holding onto his position and fending off an attack by Rossi, staying close to the group of top riders battling for podium positions. The battle with Crutchlow for sixth continued all the way to the last lap when Aleix recovered ground, finishing in the Brit’s slipstream but, more importantly, keeping the gap to five and a half seconds behind the second place finisher in a race where the winner – Marquez – was in a race by himself. This is a great result that placed Aleix among the protagonists in the Spanish race and it is an excellent way to head off for the overseas tour.
Throughout the race Andrea had to deal with pain in the left shoulder he injured in Misano. He gritted his teeth and, although having to dose out his strength, he remained consistently in the positions battling for the top ten. He missed it by less than half a second, but after a nice battle where he prevailed over Petrucci precisely on the final lap. The week-long break before flying out to Thailand will be essential for his full physical recovery.
Bradley Smith, in the race with the third RS-GP, finished nineteenth, completing the work he had planned with the Test Team.
ALEIX ESPARGARO’
“Today’s result was good. The team and I gave 100% and we deserve it. At the start, with the fuel tank full, I didn’t have the best feeling with the front end, but things got better and better after a few laps. I had fun. Battling in the leading group is always nice, although the characteristics of the track undoubtedly helped us.”
ANDREA IANNONE
“This weekend I had to grit my teeth and even in the race, the pain in my shoulder forced me to save my energy, especially when grip began to decrease. I am pleased with the team result, but we need to keep working hard, first and foremost, to reduce the gap in acceleration and top speed compared to Aleix. We can’t let this race fool us. This is a track that suits the Aprilia well and we still have a long way to go.”
BRADLEY SMITH
“It was a good day for Aprilia, the result of hard work by everyone. I am happy, first of all, about finishing the race, since in my last wild cards that had not been possible. We took a shot in the dark, starting with an entirely new setting. It was also a functional decision because of the tests we’ll be doing here in a few days, during which we want to give Aleix and Andrea a little extra help for the rest of the season.”
Suzuki
DAMAGE LIMITATION FOR TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR IN ARAGON
Team Suzuki Press Office – September 22.
Alex Rins: 9th (+ 27.998)
Joan Mir: 14th (+ 33.363)
• Alex Rins recoups to 9th place and regains 3rd in standings.
• Unfortunate clash for Joan Mir sees him fight back to 14th.
• Difficult day for Team, now focusing on the fly-aways.
After a strong morning Warm-Up session for both Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s riders, the Team were feeling positive for the 14th race of the season at Motorland Aragon.
Lining up on the grid with the medium-hard tyre combination, the tension was running high for the whole field as clouds closed in and the threat of rain increased.
Joan Mir and Alex Rins launched off the line and were together in the first corners of the 23-lap race. Rins was then involved in an incident with Franco Morbidelli at Turn 12 which saw the Italian crash, and sent Rins into the gravel trap, rejoining in 19th place. Rins then began to recoup his lost positions and was in 12th when Race Direction decided to hand him a long lap penalty for his involvement in Morbidelli’s crash.
The Spaniard promptly took the penalty loop and didn’t lose any further positions thanks to the buffer he had built up. He then began a battle with four riders for 9th place and put in several passes but struggled to hold position, in part due to the damage sustained to the aero package on his GSX-RR on the first lap. Rins was determined to finish well and he fiercely held on to 9th place before the chequered flag, regaining 3rd place in the championship standings.
Mir had been enjoying a strong weekend at one of his favourite circuits, but he struggled to find a good feeling under braking, and this resulted in a tough first part of the race for him. He then settled into a strong pace but incurred some contact from other riders – also reporting damages to his GSX-RR. His struggles continued until the end of the race, where he finished in 14th place.
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager:
“It was a hard race for Suzuki today. Our pace wasn’t bad this weekend, and both riders had good speed. But today both riders were involved with incidents, and we’re sorry that Morbidelli went out of the race. It was not easy for Alex or Joan to continue after the clashes, they lost positions, but I want to thank them because they didn’t give up and they scored points and got the best finishes they could in the circumstances.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“We knew it would be a hard race from the beginning, but in the end it was even more difficult than we were expecting. Alex did a really good start and slotted into 8th early on, but then he made a mistake, and we’re so sorry for Morbidelli and his team. Alex then took the long lap penalty because of the incident. It’s a pity because I think he had the pace to fight nearer the front, but it didn’t work out like that. On the plus side he regained 3rd in the championship, which is important. Joan was unlucky today after contact with another rider, but he also collected some points and did well to finish. We hope to recover in Thailand and have a better race for both riders.”
Alex Rins:
“First of all, I want to say sorry to Franky for what happened. I went to see him directly after the race to apologise. It was a difficult day, I had a long lap penalty, which I completely accept, but I then I had to try and fight back through the pack. Anyway, 9th position isn’t too bad given everything that happened during the race. I need to try and improve my qualifying, let’s see what happens in Thailand.”
Joan Mir:
“The race didn’t work out how I expected at all, and I’m really disappointed about it. On the first laps I went wide several times and I sustained some damage to my bike. I kept trying to recover positions throughout the race and although I took points, this wasn’t the race that we were expecting, and it’s not the result I hoped for. I’m really hoping that Thailand will be better for us, I want to finish well there.”
GP of Aragon – Race Classification:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 41’57.221
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team +4.836
3. Jack MILLER Pramac Racing +5.430
4. Maverick VIÑALES Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +5.811
5. Fabio QUARTARARO Petronas Yamaha SRT +8.924
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL +10.390
7. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +10.441
8. Valentino ROSSI Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP +23.623
9. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +27.998
10. Takaaki NAKAGAMI LCR Honda IDEMITSU +31.242
11. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +32.624
12. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati Team +33.043
13. Miguel OLIVEIRA Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +33.063
14. Joan MIR Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +33.363
15. Tito RABAT Reale Avintia Racing +36.358
16. Francesco BAGNAIA Pramac Racing +41.295
17. Mika KALLIO Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +42.983
18. Karel ABRAHAM Reale Avintia Racing +43.880
19. Bradley SMITH Aprilia Racing Team +44.279
20. Jorge LORENZO Repsol Honda Team +46.087
21. Hafizh SYAHRIN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 +47.308
Not Finished 1st Lap
21 Franco MORBIDELLI Petronas Yamaha SRT
MotoGP World Championship Standings:
1. Marc MARQUEZ Honda 300
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 202
3. Alex RINS Suzuki 156
4. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 155
5. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 147
6. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 137
7. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 123
8. Jack MILLER Ducati 117
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 98
10. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 80
11. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 77
12. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 68
13. Joan MIR Suzuki 49
14. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 46
15. Andrea IANNONE Aprilia 32
16. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 29
17. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 29
18. Johann ZARCO KTM 27
19. Jorge LORENZO Honda 23
20. Tito RABAT Ducati 18
21. Stefan BRADL Honda 16
22. Michele PIRRO Ducati 9
23. Sylvain GUINTOLI Suzuki 7
24. Hafizh SYAHRIN KTM 7
25. Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 5
26. Bradley SMITH Aprilia
27. Mika KALLIO KTM
LCR
TOP-10 FINISH FOR TAKA IN ARAGON
PRESS RELEASE: 22 September 2019 | Aragon Grand Prix
Takaaki Nakagami battled hard to eventually claim a top-10 finish at the Grand Prix of Aragon on Sunday. Having qualified in place 14th on the grid, the LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider overcame a difficult start to fight his way through the field and secure a creditable result in the last European-based race until the final round of the season at Valencia.
Despite a strong showing in the morning’s damp warm-up session, Taka lost ground at the start of the race as he made an error leaving the starting line. He lost further ground attempting to make an early pass on Danilo Petrucci, but then showed all of his fighting qualities to reel in the Ducati man and get to the front of the group fighting for tenth late on in the race.
Takaaki Nakagami – 10th
“It was really tough from the beginning. First of all, I had a big mistake at the start, a big wheelie which I did not expect because our start practice had gone well all weekend. So that made things tough, then I tried to overtake (Danilo) Petrucci but I wasn’t able to stop the bike and ended up going off the track, so I lost another two positions. I tried to come again and keep the pace until the end, but it was a long race because for many laps I was alone. In the end I was able to catch the top ten group, which was Petrucci (Andrea) Iannone and (Miguel) Oliveira, with about three or four laps to go. I did my best and in the end we got a top-10 which isn’t bad, but the pace wasn’t great so we still have room to improve the bike.”
