Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden take to a completely new circuit on Friday morning as the first ever Grand Prix of Aragon gets underway with the old format of four practice sessions.
The Ducati Marlboro Team riders will have three free practice sessions and a qualifying practice, each lasting 45 minutes, as they work to adapt their Ducati GP10 machines to the new circuit on the outskirts of the small town of Alcaňiz, located around 270km from Barcelona, 300km from Madrid and 100km from Zaragoza.
Designed by the German architect Herman Tilke, Aragon Motorland is a spectacular circuit with a lot of fast corners and elevation changes. Both Stoner and Hayden are looking forward to the challenge as they aim to put two difficult races behind them.
CASEY STONER, Ducati Marlboro Team
“I’m happy to be going to Aragon. The last two races have been difficult for us and racing at a new track is exciting. We’ll go into the weekend with optimism and hope that the track is good fun and well suited to the Ducati, although being realistic we know we face a tough job to find something extra. The team and all the engineers are doing a fantastic job so it is a case of giving my maximum and helping come up with something new to improve the feeling with the bike, to get it turning better and find some more grip. More than anything we want to put the last couple of weeks behind us.”
NICKY HAYDEN, Ducati Marlboro Team
“Misano was a really difficult GP for everybody, the kind of weekend we hope never to go through again, but we are racers and we have to continue doing what it is we love so the goal is to go to Aragon and try to be competitive again. It is always nice to race at a new circuit – it is exciting for the riders but also for the teams and everybody else that works in the paddock. It is a challenge to find the right setting for the bike, especially in terms of the gear ratios and suspension. We start from scratch, with no data to work from, but that is a challenge I always enjoy. Aragon has a lot of elevation changes and is a lot of fun to ride. My wrist is back to 100% so I can’t wait to get back on the bike and get back to work with the team.”
VITTORIANO GUARESCHI, Team Manager
“Aragon is a new circuit that has excited every rider to have tried it because it is spectacular, with lots of elevation changes, fast corners and a lot of good places to overtake. We will have four sessions so we will try to get the most out of them and find a good setting because even though the overall track time is the same this format allows us to work better on the bike. As always we will give our best to be competitive again after two tough races.”
THE TRACK
Located around five kilometres west of the centre of Alcaňiz, Motorland Aragon is a facility dedicated, according to its official website, to Sport, Technology and Culture. As well as hosting the MotoGP World Championship for the first time on 19th September, Aragon is also the home of motocross, karting, supermoto and rally events. The MotoGP track runs anti-clockwise, with nine left corners and eight right-handers making for an overall layout of 5.078km. At its widest point, on the main straight, it measures 15m, with 12m width for the rest of the circuit. There is an elevation drop of 50m between the highest and lowest points of the track (7.2%). As for the team and hospitality infrastructure there is a main paddock area of 50,000m² and an additional one of 8,200m².
ARAGON CIRCUIT FACTS
Circuit Length: 5,078 km
MotoGP Race 2010: 23 laps (116.794 km)
MotoGP Timetable 2010: 14:00 Local Time
DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM – RIDER INFO
CASEY STONER
Age: 24 (born 16th October 1985 in Southport, Queensland, Australia )
Residency: Switzerland
Bike: Ducati Team Desmosedici GP10
Number: 27
GP Appearances: 138 (77xMotoGP, 31×250, 30×125)
GP victories: 27 (20xMotoGP, 5×250, 2×125)
First GP win: Valencia, 2003 (125)
GP debut: Great Britain, 2001 (125)
Pole positions: 22 (18xMotoGP, 2×250, 2×125)
First pole position: Italy, 2003 (125)
World Titles: 1 (MotoGP, 2007)
NICKY HAYDEN
Age: 29 (born 30th July 1981 in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA)
Residency: Owensboro, USA
Bike: Ducati Team Desmosedici GP10
Number: 69
GP Appearances: 128 (128xMotoGP)
First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP)
GP wins: 3 (3xMotoGP)
First GP win: USA, 2005 (MotoGP)
Pole positions: 5 (5xMotoGP)
First pole: USA, 2005 (MotoGP)
World titles: 1 (MotoGP, 2006)
