Marquez and company arrive in Aragon as Lorenzo drive recalls local racing heritage | Aragon MotoGP
The Aragon MotoGP pre-event press conference on the eve of the 2014 Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon on Thursday afternoon saw World Champion Marc Marquez line up with Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Iannone and Moto3™ rider Jack Miller to address the media.
Runaway standings leader Marquez (Repsol Honda) won at Aragon last year and he is keen to make immediate amends after his 15th place finish at Misano last time out.
Marquez commented, “In Misano on Sunday we weren’t ready to fight for the win. Anyway I tried because my idea was to try and win the championship here in Aragon, but it has not been possible. I took a risk and I was too far over the limit. Now we have to think about the championship and manage our advantage.”
He continued, “Here is one of my favourite tracks, maybe even my favourite. I like to ride here, the layout is incredible. In 125cc I was not so lucky in that race and I crashed on the first corner, but since then we have been good here. Hopefully we continue that way.”
For Marquez’s teammate Pedrosa the goal is to maintain his second place in the World Championship standings and to erase the memories of his Aragon DNF last year, which resulted from a crash caused by an unintentional clash with his Honda colleague.
Pedrosa said, “It’s a good track, I enjoy it here quite a lot. The corners are nice and there is always a chance to slide a little bit. The overall lap is interesting. We have to do our best this weekend, as Valentino is closing in on us. We have to maximize our points on Sunday and give the fans a good show.”
On the back of his superb victory at Misano Rossi was in great spirits as usual. He commented, “The win was a great thing for us, we had a great week after Misano. My friends, my family and I enjoyed it a lot and we waited a long time for the victory so that made it even better. During the weekend we found an important step on the bike to improve the setting and pace. The Misano the track helped as the M1 usually goes well there. Now we have to compare our level here at Aragon, we’re focussed and pushing hard.”
Rossi’s Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammate Lorenzo is looking for his first victory of 2014 and he stated, “For sure it’s not the best to have so many second places. Being in second isn’t the worst though, as this is MotoGP and everyone is here to win. I want to get a victory this year, but it’s not simple. We’re getting stronger and stronger, but we made a bad tyre choice on Sunday in Misano and we have to learn from this. This track isn’t the best for us but we’ve had a good test and a good race here last year, so we’ll fight regardless.”
Impressive Pramac Racing rider Iannone gave his perspective ahead of round 14, saying, “In Moto2 I had good memories here, it’s very fast and technical and the corners are very good. With the MotoGP bike it’s the same and I think I can ride well tomorrow, so I will try to do best. This weekend I have two bikes. I use the GP14 and the GP14.2. I tested it in Mugello on Tuesday. I didn’t improve a lot and I couldn’t compare the two bikes in Mugello. Tomorrow I’ll compare the two bikes and see which bike we prefer.”
For Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3™ rider and standings leader Miller, who will ride in MotoGP next season with CWM LCR Honda Team, these are exciting times.
The young Australian noted, “I’m over the moon to have this chance, but of course you know there will be a lot of questions. When Marc (Marquez) went up to the Moto2 he was lighter and smaller than me, so physically I think I can ride now in MotoGP. I’ve only been on a road bike since 2009 so it’s a big step. It’s a long-term project and with the time and attitude we can do it.”
Earlier in the day, celebrating the racing heritage of the Aragon area ahead of the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon, MotoGP visited the old urban race circuit of Guadalope in the city centre of Alcañiz to start the festivities which will mark the 50th anniversary of the track in 2015.
The 2010 and 2012 MotoGP™ World Champion Lorenzo drove around the 3.9km track on some demonstration laps in a 1985 Alfa Romeo 155. The event was also attended by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, who was Lorenzo’s co-driver for a couple of laps of the old track. The video of Lorenzo’s Alcañiz street drive can be downloaded by clicking here and can be published freely for Broadcast and Digital platforms in its original format only.
