Friday at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon saw Ducati dominate in the morning as they locked out the top four positions, but Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) turned the tables back in his favour in FP2 to head the timesheets.
Five-time 250cc race winner Fonsi Nieto gives us his 5 key points to the Aragon GP after reflecting on the day’s track action:
1. Ducati looking strong
I think the Ducatis are favourites here, plus they’ve had the possibility to practice in the test days here. In FP1, above all, we’ve seen this small difference. It’s also true that the Ducatis are stronger on paper, and there are 3 official riders (including Petrucci) that are at the top, I think the strongest amongst them is Dovizioso or Jorge over Marquez. Dovi, especially, is a step or so ahead of Lorenzo.
2. Marquez can win
I’m looking forward to watching Marquez, he is able to win. In his mind, with Honda, they are trying to win the Championship in Japan, I think that is the main objective for them. For a Japanese factory to win the Championship in Japan, will be really important. I think that’s one of the objectives they have now.
3. Tyre choice will be key
They’ve all tried the hard tyre that a lot of them liked this morning. I think that could be a race option but, as always, at a circuit like this that’s so long, and with this heat, they’ll be speaking a lot about strategy and who will push at the start and who will push at the end. There will be a bit of chopping and changing at the front.
4. Yamaha struggling
I see the Yamahas really lost and each time more so because people are improving in small steps but I see them taking blind leaps. I’m a coach and what I see on the track is that the traction control is more than what Zarco had at the beginning of the year. This is the only improvement they’ve had. My feeling, from the track, is that instead of moving forward, they’re moving backwards because they knew what was working for Zarco anyway because it’s not a factory bike.
5. Crutchlow, Petrucci and Miller vying for top 5
Looking at independent riders… Petrucci and Cal are really official riders, but Miller is doing well. He made a mistake in Misano, which in the end he was disappointed about because it was his mistake but I’ve seen him really motivated here and with a lot of enthusiasm and he could be near to the top 5.