Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo will once again be taking the fight to Repsol Honda Team’s championship leader Marc Marquez, as he keeps trying to chip away at the rookie’s 34-point lead. The stage for this will see both riders in front of their home crowd at the Gran Premio Iveco de Aragón in Spain.

Lorenzo has been the victor in the last two races, with Marquez still keeping a tight grip on the championship by finishing a strong second on both occasions. The Yamaha rider knows his only option to retain the world title is to try and win all of the remaining races, yet Marquez will be no easy challenge considering the form he is in.

Looking to overhaul both is Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who has been just slightly off the mark recently, citing grip issues. Yet back to match fitness and on a track he won at last year, Pedrosa will still be one of the favourites for victory. Valentino Rossi will be aiming to end his run of fourth-place finishes with another podium, after seemingly improving braking stability problems at the post-Misano test.


Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow will hope to get back to his form from earlier in the season, that saw him on the podium numerous times, whilst GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista and LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl will look to take the fight to the factory riders once more. A notable change in the ranks is that Yonny Hernandez, who has ridden for PBM this season, will contest the race on Ben Spies’ Ignite Pramac Racing Ducati – the American still out due to injury.

Ducati Team, which had a double podium finish in the inaugural Aragon race back in 2010, would very much like to replicate such a performance, though is likely to struggle for such a result based on the team’s recent run. Nonetheless, riders Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden will be looking to squeeze the maximum out of the Desmosedici and battle with the satellite Yamahas and Hondas.

Sadly, Cardion AB Motoracing rider Karel Abraham will be out for the rest of the season due to his damaged shoulder, which is being operated on. He will be replaced by Italy’s Luca Scassa, whilst Hernandez’s replacement at PBM is Australian Damian Cudlin who makes a return to the MotoGP™ World Championship. Elsewhere in the CRT field, Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro aims to make up for his jump-start at Misano and once again take top CRT spot in Parc Fermé, which went to NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards last time out.

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