New experience awaits MotoGP class at Aragón

The Gran Premio A-Style de Aragón welcomes the circuit onto the World Championship calendar for the first time this weekend, with another intriguing all-Spanish duel between Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa set to take place.

Round 13 of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship this weekend marks the first ever visit to the Motorland Aragón circuit in Spain, where the home crowd will be preparing to witness another duel between Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo and his closest rival Dani Pedrosa. The arrival of the premier class of motorcycling at Aragón will make it the sixth different circuit in Spain to have been used for GP racing.

With six rounds of the season remaining what had seemed to be a straight run for Lorenzo to a first premier class title now appears to be a little more complicated thanks to the efforts of Pedrosa. The Fiat Yamaha star’s consistency has been his strongest point however and Lorenzo remains the only MotoGP rider to have scored points in every round so far, having placed inside the top three in each race in 2010. A top-two result at Aragón would guarantee a Spanish title winner as only Pedrosa would then be capable of overhauling his rival’s advantage, which stands at 63 points heading into the weekend.

Repsol Honda rider Pedrosa is in a rich vein of form and comes into this round off the back of his first consecutive premier class wins following victory ahead of Lorenzo at Misano. Both he and Lorenzo have already run on the Aragón circuit in private day tests over the summer, and are both equal on 12 MotoGP career victories to date.

The contest for third place in the overall standings is a close affair, with Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) on 139 points and Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) both on 130. Of the trio Rossi has the strongest record on Spanish soil having won 19 GPs across all classes in the country, but is also on his longest winless streak – seven races – since winning for the first time in the premier class at Donington in 2000. Dovizioso is aiming for a return to the podium having gone seven races without a top-three finish, whilst Stoner remains in search of a first win of the campaign in what promises to be a great scrap between the three as the season enters its final third.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies remains the highest placed satellite rider in sixth and is just ten points off Rossi and Stoner, with compatriot Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) searching for his first podium of the season. Randy de Puniet’s (LCR Honda) impressive recovery from injury continues, whilst Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) complete the top ten as it currently stands. Edwards will be making his 100th MotoGP start on Yamaha machinery.

Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) is still recovering from surgery to the little finger on his right hand which he required after a first-lap crash at Misano, and will not ride.

Aragón will also see the return of a three-practice format with two sessions on Friday and a third and final one on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying, in a trial system which will be reviewed following the GP. The first free practice session for the MotoGP class gets underway at 10.05am on Friday morning.