This is the eighth successive year that MotorLand Aragon has hosted a Grand Prix, and here's a few things to know as we get in gear.
MotorLand Aragon:
- Aragon first hosted a Grand Prix in 2010, when it became the sixth different circuit that has been used for Grand Prix racing in Spain. The other circuits are: Jerez, Catalunya, Jarama, Montjuich and Valencia.
- Casey Stoner won the first MotoGP™ race at Aragon in 2010 on a Ducati - the only victory for the Italian manufacturer at this circuit.
- Honda are the most successful manufacturer at the Aragon circuit with four MotoGP™ victories, and with three different riders: Casey Stoner in 2011, Dani Pedrosa in 2012 and Marc Marquez in both 2013 and 2016.
- Jorge Lorenzo has given Yamaha two MotoGP™ victories at MotorLand, in 2014 and 2015.
- Spanish riders have had great success across all three GP classes at Aragon, winning 15 of the 21 GP races that have taken place. The only non-Spanish riders who have had a win at the circuit are: Casey Stoner (MotoGP™ in 2010 & 2011), Andrea Iannone (Moto2™ in 2010), Romano Fenati (Moto3™ in 2014), Miguel Oliveira (Moto3™ in 2015) and Sam Lowes (Moto2™ last year).
- Casey Stoner’s two victories are the only occasions that a non-Spanish rider has stood on either of the top two steps in the MotoGP™ class at MotorLand.
- Marc Marquez has been on pole on all four occasions he has raced in the MotoGP™ class at the Aragon circuit.
- In addition to Casey Stoner’s win in 2010, the only podium finishes for Ducati riders at Aragon are third for Nicky Hayden in 2010 and third for Cal Crutchlow in 2014.
- The best result at Aragon for Suzuki is the fourth place finish achieved last year by Maverick Viñales.
- Aragon is one of just five circuits on the current calendar that run in an anti-clockwise direction, along with Austin, Sachsenring, Phillip Island and Valencia.
- Aragon is one of just three circuits on the current calendar where Valentino Rossi(Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) has not had a MotoGP™ victory, along with Austin and the Red Bull Ring.
- The three riders standing on the MotoGP™ podium in Aragon last year (Marquez, Lorenzo, Rossi) had a record accumulated total of 232 Grand Prix wins across all classes.
Things to know after Misano:
- With the win by Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) at Misano, Honda take over the lead of the Constructors Championship classification by just five points from Yamaha, who had led the championship throughout 2017 until the San Marino Grand Prix. Ducati are just seventeen points behind Honda in the Constructors Championship, which is the closest between three manufacturers in the MotoGP™ era.
- Following his win at Misano, Marc Marquez takes over from Andrea Dovizioso(Ducati Team) at the head of the Championship table, the sixth change of leader so far in 2017.
- Marquez heads the championship table with 199 points after thirteen races of the 2017 have been completed. This is the lowest total for a rider leading the premier class Championship standings at this stage of the season since the current scoring system was introduced in 1993. The previous lowest points total for a rider leading the championship after 13 races is 214, which applies to both Nicky Hayden in 2006 and Kenny Roberts Jnr in 2000.
- Andrea Dovizioso also has a total of 199 points but is in second place in the standings on tie-breaker rule. He needs just one more point scoring finish to become the first Ducati rider since Casey Stoner in 2010 to reach the milestone of 200 points in a single season.
- His third place finish at Misano was the 40th time Dovizioso has stood on the podium in the MotoGP™ class, the same number of premier class podiums achieved by twice 500cc World Champion Barry Sheene.
- At the Aragon GP, Jack Miller is scheduled to make his 100th Grand Prix start, which includes six starts in the 125cc class and 49 in the Moto3™ class. At the age of 22 years 249 days Miller is the second youngest rider to reach the milestone of 100 GP starts, after Casey Stoner, who was 22 years 215 days old when he made his 100th GP start at Le Mans in 2008.
- Marc Marquez heads the championship table with an advantage of just 16 points over Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) in third place, the smallest margin covering the top three at this stage of the season since the current scoring system was introduced in 1993. The previous closest margin at this stage of the season was 26 points covering the top three in 2006.
- Michael van der Mark is scheduled to replace Valentino Rossi in the Yamaha factory team at the Aragon Grand Prix. Van der Mark will be the first Dutch rider to appear in the MotoGP™ class since Jurgen van den Goorbergh started the Chinese and French Grands Prix in 2005 as a replacement for Makoto Tamada in the Konica Minolta Honda team. Van den Goorbergh finished 6th in China and 14th at Le Mans. Van der Mark will be the youngest Dutch rider to take part in a premier class Grand Prix race since Henk de Vries in 1980.
- After pushing over the line at Misano to score a single point, Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) now has an advantage of 26 points in the rookie classification over teammate Jonas Folger. Zarco also heads the Independent Team championship by just 15 points from Danilo Petrucci, with Cal Crutchlow a further three points adrift.
- Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) finished 8th at Misano – his best result so far in his rookie season in MotoGP™. This was also the second time this year he has been thefirst rookie across the line; the other occasion was at the opening race of the year in Qatar, when he finished ninth.
- Three Italian riders finished in the top five at Misano, all riding Ducati motorcycles. The last time that three Italian riders on Italian bikes finished in the top five in the premier class was at Imola in 1972 when Giacomo Agostini on a MV Agusta won from teammate Alberto Pagani, with Ducati rider Bruno Spaggiari completing the podium. Alberto Pagani, son of 1949 125cc World Champion Nello, passed away on the Monday following the San Marino Grand Prix at the age of seventy-nine. Nello and Alberto Pagani were the first father and son to both win premier class Grand Prix races.
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