Can Marc Marquez take centre stage at MotorLand?

Teruel (Spain), 6 Sept 2021: There’s plenty to talk about after the British GP, and now saddles up to head back south to Spain and the stunning MotorLand Aragon, the 12th round of the 19 round the FIM MotoGP World Championship. The modern classic nestles like an outpost of speed in an otherwise rural, striking and arid landscape, inviting man and machine to make their mark. And, even more pertinent to previewing the weekend ahead, it’s also an anti-clockwise circuit… and that usually means one thing: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). 

The 5,077m (3.155 miles) anti-clockwise circuit has an interesting and complex layout featuring 10 left- and 7 right-hand corners, along with a longest straight measuring 968m (.601 miles). With a mixture of corners from hairpins to fast flowing turns, the front MICHELIN Power Slicks have been designed to meet these demands and give the riders the confidence they need through the variety of bends. To complement the fronts, the rear slicks have been designed to give high-speed stability and effectively put the power down onto the asphalt, attributes equally important to setting that all-important fast and consistent lap time.

Circuit Info courtesy: Michelin

Watch the unseen footage from British MotoGP courtesy MotoGP.com here.

The eight-time World Champion didn’t cover himself with glory at Silverstone after an early crash that collected Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing), but there was no harm done for either party and the number 93 was quick to apologise. But momentum didn’t mean much for Marc Marquez when the paddock arrived in Germany, another anti-clockwise venue he’s made absolutely his own, with the Honda rider putting his foot down to take that history-making win and get back on the top step regardless. He’s traditionally the fastest man at MotorLand and the progress keeps coming in speed at least… so can he pull another stunner out of the bag despite a slightly tougher run of late than likely expected?

The good news – to add to his record there – is also the form seen from his fellow Honda riders at Silverstone. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) was ill on race day but teammate Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) had one of his best Sundays of the year so far, and Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) most definitely had his best weekend on the whole since joining Honda. Starting from pole, leading for a good while and then coming home in fifth, it was a big step forward for the number 44. And at Aragon? More good reading: Alex Marquez also took his first dry weather podium – and second overall, as a rookie – at MotorLand last season, and Nakagami took a pole, so Honda will be feeling optimistic of a high-scoring weekend in Aragon.

That’s also true of Aprilia. After a season of knocking on the door week-in, week-out, Silverstone finally saw that milestone reached: a first MotoGP™ era podium. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) has impressed for much of the year but his British GP – and last lap battle to hold off Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – were another impressive performance to underline some serious progress. He also took his previous premier class podium at Aragon, as well as more top finishes as the number 41 always seems to shine at the venue. And this weekend, there’s a headline in the other side of the garage too: Maverick Viñales.

After a rollercoaster few weeks, the Spaniard returns in black and red to take on a new challenge on the RS-GP, debuting early after already having signed for the Noale factory to race there in 2022. And on his test debut at Misano, the laptimes made for very exciting reading. Viñales already has podiums with two manufacturers, and wins… can he start adding more with Aprilia? And where will he slot back into the pack on his RS-GP debut?

Yamaha, meanwhile, remain on the front foot in the title fight. A stunning race from Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) at Silverstone as issues hit for his closest rivals sees him coming into the weekend a whopping 65 points clear, although the Alcañiz venue has never been the best for Yamaha. That may change who stands on the top step, but it can’t change who leads the standings. Quartararo could sit out the next two weekends and still lead the Championship by a minimum of 15 points, so he has some room to ride clever and focus on damage limitation if he needs to. That said, he himself pointed out the huge step forward taken by the Iwata marque in Austria, another track that’s traditionally tougher, so can he flip the form book? Former teammate Franco Morbidelli did do that on one visit to MotorLand last year too…

Cal Crutchlow returns to partner Quartararo at Monster Energy Yamaha and will be looking to keep making progress and taking data, and Jake Dixon will also get another ride out on the Petronas Yamaha SRT machine. After a solid debut at Silverstone, can he build on that? His teammate, Valentino Rossi, also made a good start and after having gone straight to Q2 at Silverstone before late race grip issues saw him drop down the order. Can the Doctor keep that form rolling on his last visit to MotorLand?

Similar happened for Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) at Suzuki, as the reigning World Champion ran out of steam – for steam, read grip – later in the British GP and came home in ninth, staying ahead of Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 Factory Racing) by a whisker. But with Quartararo winning, ninth is what’s left him 65 down on the top – and he’ll be gunning hard to take the opportunity at MotorLand to hit back.

Teammate Alex Rins, meanwhile, had no such trouble. The 2019 winner couldn’t quite stage a repeat but he did take his first podium of the season at Silverstone in second, and guess who won last year on our first visit to MotorLand? The number 42 was sublime and he’ll be heading in on that injection of confidence. In fact, Suzuki will likely be feeling pretty confident all round at Aragon, as they’re the only two riders who were on the podium in both visits to the track last season.

And what of Ducati? At Silverstone it was a more muted run for the Borgo Panigale factory. Miller fought for the podium, Martin fell victim to Marc Marquez’ crash, and both Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) had a tougher race to fade to outside the top ten. Bagnaia conceded it made a chance of the crown an even longer shot too, but until grip trouble hit he’d been fast as ever. And Miller got back in the mix. Can they do so again at a track that’s been traditionally tougher hunting ground? And can Zarco move forward to the postcode he was in for much of the first half of the season?

Last year, we saw KTM have a more difficult first weekend at Aragon followed by a big step forward – with the top Austrian machine beating the top Ducati too, so there’s reason to expect them to fight for more top finishes. At Silverstone Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) put on another stunning Sunday charge to go from 12th to 6th too – and complete the statistic of six factories in the top six for the first time since 1972 – and there were also standouts from Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) and Petrucci as both stormed into the top ten. Will experience from last season help to maintain that now? Binder and Lecuona have now raced at MotorLand twice in MotoGP™, which is something that couldn’t be said of Silverstone.

Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) will be looking for a lot more from MotorLand too. The Portuguese rider was on an absolute charge earlier this season, but since Assen he’s not scored points. With proven talent, speed and smarts, the Portuguese rider will more definitely reappear at the front, but will it be sooner rather than a little later?

This time it’s one assault on Aragon for MotoGP, and there’s plenty to watch out for. Can Marc Marquez make a stand on home turf? Will Suzuki be the team to beat? Or can Yamaha keep that form book flipped in 2021? Tune in at Eurosport in India at 5.30 pm IST (local race time at Aragon 14:00 -GMT +2) for the MotoGP race on Sunday as the lights go out for the Gran Premio TISSOT de Aragon! Moto3 race is at 2.30pm in India followed by Moto2 at 3.50pm. The telecast in India is on EuroSport channel and Discovery + app.