This Sunday’s Aragon Grand Prix marks the MotoGP calendar’s fourteenth round and the Grand Prix series’ second visit to the new motorsports facility in central Spain. In 2010, the Ducati Team perfectly understood the circuit, and both of its riders finished on the podium.
For Nicky Hayden, it was one of his best results aboard the Desmosedici, as he used a beautiful last-lap pass on Jorge Lorenzo to achieve his third-place finish. The American hopes to continue improving his feeling with the GP11.1 so that he can be consistently fast from the free practice sessions on.
Valentino Rossi finished sixth at Aragon last year, but he approaches the Aragon weekend with determination and focus for the work that he’s carrying out with the Ducati technicians and his team.
VALENTINO ROSSI, Ducati Team
“Last year at Aragon was the best race of the year for Ducati, so we approach this round with our expectations a little higher than usual. In addition, after the difficult practice sessions at Misano, we found a good setup in the end and I had a better feeling with the bike and managed to ride it better in the race, especially in the early laps. Now we’ll try to combine the two things—the track that seems to work well with the Desmosedici and the good setup work—in order to find the same feeling on Sunday.”
NICKY HAYDEN, Ducati Team
“It’s nice to go back to Aragon, which I like. We haven’t been there a lot, so it’s still new and fun. Last year, it was clearly our best weekend of the season, and in theory, it should suit me and our bike a little bit this time as well. The track was brand-new then, and it was grippy and completely smooth, so we’ll see how well it’s held up. It has a lot of ups and downs, and quite a few corners with open exits, which should be good for us. I’m 100% okay from my crash at Misano, so no excuses there. Hopefully we can catch a little break and have a good weekend at Aragon.”
VITTORIANO GUARESCHI, Team Manager
“We have some great memories of Aragon from last year, so we’re happy to return. Every season has its own story though, and we’re obviously currently working not only for this weekend but also beyond. Our riders and team are completely focused on the goal, and they’re giving us a collaborative working group that I think is extremely important. At Aragon, we expect to continue gathering data and information on the Desmosedici and to speed up the setup work during the practice sessions.”
MOTORLAND ARAGON CIRCUIT RECORDS
Circuit Record: Dani Pedrosa (Honda – 2010) 1:49.521 – 166.915 km/h
Best Pole: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2010) 1:48.942 – 167.803 km/h
Circuit Length: 5.078 km
MotoGP Race 2011: 23 laps (116.794 km)
MotoGP Schedule 2011: 2:00 p.m. Local time
Number of laps: 23
Total Race distance: 116.794 km
2010 PODIUM: 1st Casey Stoner, 2nd Dani Pedrosa, 3rd Nicky Hayden
2010 POLE: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2010) 1:48.942 – 167.803
DUCATI TEAM’S BEST RESULTS AT ARAGON
2010: 1st (Stoner)
DUCATI TEAM – RIDER INFO
VALENTINO ROSSI
Bike: Ducati Team Desmosedici GP11.1
Race number: 46
Age: 32 (born in Pesaro 16 February 1979)
Residence: Tavullia (Pesaro, Italy)
GPs: 254 (194 x MotoGP, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
First GP: Malaysian GP, 1996 (125cc)
Number of wins: 105 (79 x MotoGP, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP win: Czech Republic GP, 1996 (125cc)
Poles: 59 (49 x MotoGP, 5 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)
First Pole: Czech Republic GP, 1996 (125cc)
World Titles: 9 (6 x MotoGP, 1 x 500cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc)
Rossi’s MotoGP track record at Aragon
2010: Grid: 7th; Race: 6th
NICKY HAYDEN
Bike: Ducati Team Desmosedici GP11.1
Race number: 69
Age: 30 (born 30 July 1981 in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA)
Residence: Owensboro, Kentucky, USA
Number of GPs: 147 (147 x MotoGP)
First GP: Japanese GP, 2003 (MotoGP)
Number of wins: 3 (3 x MotoGP)
First GP win: USA GP, 2005 (MotoGP)
Poles: 5 (5 x MotoGP)
First Pole: USA GP, 2005 (MotoGP)
World Titles: 1 (MotoGP, 2006)
Hayden’s MotoGP track record at Aragon
2010: Grid: 4th; Race: 3rd
