2020 has thrown up its fair share of unexpected twists and turns this season, with it being so impossible to predict what’s going to happen, nothing much comes as a surprise anymore!
However, one surprise we won’t be seeing is a miraculous Marc Marquez title tilt, as the Spaniard has officially been ruled out of the Gran Premio Michelin® de Aragon, with Stefan Bradl continuing in his place on the LCR Repsol Honda Team.
Many were tipping the six-time MotoGP™ World Champion for an early return, which could have seen him have enough races to put together a late rally for the Championship, but those hopes have dissipated ahead of the weekend’s action.
Honda have confirmed that Bradl will continue in Marquez’s absence at the Aragon GP.
The German arrives at the Aragonese circuit at a good time, having achieved his best result of the year last weekend at Le Mans, finishing 8th. It is also a track he has form at, as he has always finished in the top 10 in all his appearances in the Aragon Grand Prix, with the exception of 2015.
“I am happy to continue competing with the Repsol Honda team in Aragon but I also hope Marc continues to recover well. Getting back in the points in the last race has given me extra motivation for this weekend in Aragon.”
“It is a circuit with a lot of variety and some difficult points, especially if the temperatures are colder, you should pay attention to the right side of the tire at the beginning of the lap. The objective is to return to offer the best possible result for the team ”.
18th on the grid? First wet #MotoGP race? ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) October 12, 2020
No problem on Sunday for the spectacular @alexmarquez73 who stormed to a first premier class podium! ????#FrenchGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/R32dKrTFma
The Spanish Repsol Honda team riders will arrive in Aragon in top form, with Bradl’s Top 8 finish the icing on the cake to Alex Marquez’s debut podium finish, in just his ninth premier class race.
To date, Márquez is one of just two riders who have finished all the races, along with Taka Nakagami (LCR Honda Indemitsu), and confirmed his progress and adaptation to both MotoGP and the RC213V. On this track, the Cervera rider has been on the podium twice in the last four seasons (third in 2019 and second in 2016, in Moto2), and will be hoping for further success this weekend.
“It has been a nice few days enjoying the sensations of Le Mans, I want to again thank all those who have supported me or sent me a message after the race. But now is the time to restart and go back to work in Aragon.”
“Qualifying on Saturday is still the area where we need to work the most, as we have shown that our race pace is usually not that bad and we are able to fight more and more. Let's see what time we find, in Aragon in the morning it can be very cold so you have to be attentive to this.”