Spanish MotoGP team go into third round on home soil aiming to maintain Álvaro Bautista’s top ten run
The penultimate European round of the season takes place this weekend at Motorland Aragón, where Marc Márquez arrives with the series lead and his victory from 2017 still fresh in the memory. The Spaniard, who will have one of the corners of the circuit named after him this weekend, holds a 67-point advantage over Andrea Dovizioso, now second in the championship after his victory in the San Marino GP, and 70 over Valentino Rossi. Márquez has not been able to beat the Ducatis for the last three races but with his rivals sharing the big points (two wins for Dovi and one for Lorenzo, with best results of fourth Rossi and fifth for Maverick Viñales) his leadership has remained unchallenged and a first crack at this year’s title is edging ever closer.
The Ángel Nieto Team are looking forward to a third home race of the season with the aim of another top ten finish for Álvaro Bautista and more points for Karel Abraham. The Spaniard has been in the top ten for the last seven straight races and has moved up to twelfth in the championship. In 2017 he produced one of his best performances of the season at Aragón, finishing in eighth place and just eight seconds down on the winner – a feat he would love to repeat this weekend. Abraham’s focus remains on the top fifteen at a circuit where he finished ninth in 2012. The Czech rider believes the Aragón layout suits his riding style and he is aiming for his first points-finish since he took thirteenth place at Catalunya.
Álvaro Bautista: “We have another home race and we are really looking forward to it because we are on a good of form, which is allowing us to finish consistently in the top ten. Also I have good memories from Aragón, having raced in the front group from the start there last year. It is a circuit with every kind of corner and elevation change and that makes it hard to find a balanced set-up. We are very motivated for this race because even though the gap to the front is widening as the factory teams continue to make improvements, I am confident that the support of the Spanish crowd can push us on to another good result that set us up for the flyaway races.”
Karel Abraham: “We have to go to Aragon with our chins up, ready to fight again. We’ll be going there to fight for a point. If it can be more then great but we’ll prepare hard for that one. Aragon is a nice track with some fast corners that suit me really well and I’m looking forward to getting there.”