The fabulous MotorLand Aragon welcomes the return of the world’s most exciting sport in 2024, with plenty to talk about on Thursday.
Check out some key interviews of the day covering the headlines in the rider market and more, and then watch the press conferences as seven riders sat down with the media on Thursday. Press Conference 1 saw Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) joined by Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP), before Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) sat down with Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) after the Thai rider was announced at Idemitsu Honda LCR next season. More on that below!
Check out all the key headlines from the day and then come back for more as track action begins on Friday!
FRANCESCO BAGNAIA (Ducati Lenovo Team)
How confident are you to get that get the better of Enea this weekend?
“First of all, I am happy to be here because I like the track, the layout is fantastic, it is a mix of good tracks with hard braking and fast corners here, I think we can enjoy our bike. The last two times that we were here, it was suiting the layout perfectly, so I think we will have good potential. We know that Marc and Jorge are super-fast at this track, but I think it will be. A battle with all four of us because Enea won last time here, I won in 2021 and Marc won six times I think and Jorge was always fast, so it will be a nice battle. I hope to enjoy the weather and the new asphalt.”
Do you expect this weekend to be one of the toughest battles of the season?
“Let’s see, it would be nice to have a good battle between us because it is difficult to open up a gap at this track, but I think the battle is always fantastic, so it will be nice to battle like we did in 2021 and also in 2022 with Enea, who was there and pushing every lap. It was seven-tenths every lap, apart from the last two laps where he overtook me, so it was also a nice battle in 2022.”
JORGE MARTIN (Prima Pramac Racing)
Do you feel you have to potential to wrestle back P1 this weekend?
“Let’s see, it has been since Le Mans and also Sachsenring where I was close but I crashed, so I feel strong and feel I always have the potential for victory. The last two weekends were maybe more conservative to try and get points, also Pecco was on an amazing level in Austria so it was really difficult. Here it is complicated, these three guys here have won in the past here in MotoGP, I have just won in Moto3, so I am the only one missing it so we will try and close it here.”
What is the small piece missing to get the better of Pecco?
“It is really difficult, Pecco is on a great level, he improved not his weak point but the points where he was not as strong, so I still need to improve the point where I need to, so it is difficult. I hope to enjoy this battle to the end and have the chance until the end, so let’s see what happens.”
ENEA BASTIANINI (Ducati Lenovo Team)
Nobody will forget your 2022 win here, how do you feel about your chances of winning in Aragon once again?
“It was a very good fight in 2022 in Aragon, and I remember we made some mistakes during the race and it was on the limit already in that year. I think this year will be more difficult as I think the level is so high and we are riding for Ducati and I think all these riders can win races and we have to start really well. In Austria something was wrong and not working very well, so here we have to start and do something more.”
Do you think that your particular skills will help you at the end of the race?
“The new asphalt will be new for all riders and it could change something but I think we have to check the tyre as we have three options. We have to try all of these choices and let’s see what we use during the race but usually every year we use some of the hardest tyres on the front and here we have a new specification like in Austria. But in Austria it was too dangerous to use, here we have higher temperatures in the weekend so it will be important to try it and do some laps.”
MARC MARQUEZ (Gresini Racing MotoGP)
This weekend feels a little bit like Austin or the Sachsenring where everybody was talking about you being a favourite, how do you see it playing out this weekend?
“Obviously we are at a circuit that I like and enjoy and that I have been strong in the past, but now is the present and I know that if I have a perfect weekend then maybe I will have the chance to fight with these top guys, it is true in Austria I was super close and felt super good with the bike and it was one of the best weekends in terms of the feeling of the bike so let’s see how we start in FP1, this will be crucial for me and if we start with a good base then let’s see if we can be with the top guys.”
Where do you feel that your feeling is with the bike and do you feel in the final part of the season that you are ready to win?
“Rebuilding was in the first part of the season, now I feel super good with the team and the bike. It is true that we will arrive at some tracks like Silverstone and in the future, we will have the same feeling at some race track where I struggle more. But I hope to have my chance in a weekend to fight with the guys that are super-fast and are riding in a very good way. One of my targets is to fight for the podium positions and then let’s wait and see if we will fight for victory, if not next year we will have more opportunities.”
ALEIX ESPARGARO (Aprilia Racing)
Can you and Aprilia be more confident of more success this weekend?
“We will see, I can’t wait as it is a circuit that I always have fun with when I am riding the bike. As you said the Aprilia always works quite well here, we finished on the podium here in 2022 so I can’t wait. The new tarmac looks good and I spoke with some Moto2 riders who have been testing here a week ago and they said the grip is quite ok for new asphalt, so I can’t wait for tomorrow to see how things go.”
Do you feel this weekend gives you a chance to be a little bit closer?
“I would love to be positive but we are working hard and actually the last time we raced here, our strongest point was the second half of the race but this year we are still not unable to understand why but in the second part of the race we are destroying the tyre more but we are working on it. Ducati is unbelievable on how fast they can be in the second part of the race which we cannot, we are fast in qualifying and the Sprint but we are missing the last laps of Sunday’s race, so hopefully we can understand something this weekend.”
Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing)
What is it about Aragon that you like so much?
“Well I don’t know, in my history here I have always had great results, even in my first year in Moto2 back in 2014 I was already fighting for the podium. It was amazing and I have always had an amazing feeling at this track, and I hope it will be like that this weekend.”
Do you feel that you are ready to jump into the battle in the top three?
“We are grinding to achieve that with the crew, we are doing everything that we missed at the beginning of the year as with the injury we skipped a lot and we didn’t have any experience together or on the bike itself. Now we are at a point where we are almost there and we can aim for a podium right now but we need to put everything in its place, so let’s see if we manage to do this.”
SOMKIAT CHANTRA (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia)
How does it feel that your dream has come true?
“I was very happy when I knew that I would be in MotoGP next year, I was so happy and I was crying when I was calling my mum because I was so happy. Also, I want to say thank you to all the people who supported me.”
Your MotoGP debut will be in Buriram, how special is that going to be?
“Yeah, also the big news will be that we will start in Buriram for my first race which will also be my home race. There are fast riders here and I hope they will teach me something and we can enjoy Buriram in the first race.”
How do you feel by looking at the picture from winning the ATC 2016 to knowing that you will be in MotoGP next year?
“This year was very nice, I also won my home race which was very nice and next year I will start the race also in Buriram which should be good.”
