Race Weekend - Aragon

Aragon Grand Prix has been a tough test for the team's drivers Pedro Machado. Teamwork has been vital so that Danny Webb, who finished in ninth position, as Alberto Moncayo, who finished 17th after a crash, have staged a career that can tick of success.

The results achieved at the Grand Prix of Aragon by Danny Webb and Alberto Moncayo have once again highlighted the team's ability to overcome adverse situations. The two days of training brought complications to both pilots had to take to warm up Sunday morning to test solutions for the race, but the work carried out and paid off two of the Team were able to complete Cajasol Andalucía an excellent race.

Danny Webb, who started from 12th on the grid, managed to make an excellent start and was placed in 7th position after dealing with the troubled first corner. At the wheel is put Alberto Moncayo that, once again surprised at the start winning all eight positions, but the bad luck would have it, in a clash with Zarco, Alberto could not avoid a crash that threw off that possibility of achieving a good position in the race.

But he did not hesitate a moment and, after repositioning the brake lever is put the wheel of his battered Aprilia to complete a career, but has not scored points for him in the standings, it has been a major challenge in projection as a pilot. The Cadiz starred a thrilling comeback that led him from the back run to 17th place.

Alberto Moncayo, 17th:

"It was a difficult weekend. On one side have been training hard and it cost us to get a good set-up of the bike. I made a good start, but I had the bad luck that Zarco has touched me in the second round and I could not keep me from falling. I saw that the bike only had a handlebar lever something twisted and I have been put in place, so I went back to court and tried to take advantage of the race. I managed a pace that even I was surprised. I managed to pass many riders but when he approached the end of the engine has been run out of steam and I could not improve much more. It is a shame not to finish in the points, but at least I know the team and I have done a good job "

Danny Webb, 9th

Danny Webb also could star in a great performance in Motorland Aragon. The Briton also was spared the trouble of making it complicated about the weekend until the team gave him a good configuration in the last training, warm up on Sunday, which managed to leave behind the problems with the train front which prevented him from achieving a good position on the grid.

Getting a good race pace and an interesting ninth, but the pilot sympathetic Kent was not entirely satisfied with the outcome of the race.

"For me the race was not bad because I managed a ninth place, but has not been the best thing that could have done. I made a good start but I had some problems with the rear, had some rebounds and skate wheel a little something, on the other hand, has made me have a great time during the race. Salom I have struggled with for a few laps and, although I was relegated to 10th place, I got back to pass and leave behind after increasing the pace for several laps. In any case, reading is positive, because I am tenth in the championship and I have a chance to fight for the 9th place now occupied by Krummenacher, which is without doubt an excellent position.

Now we go to the Asian circuit between Motegi and Sepang are two paths that I love and where I think I can make good results even think I could achieve a podium. "

Pedro Machado, Director of Team Andalucía Cajasol

Danny Webb had a good race but we know that is able to aspire to something more. I am sure that, when you make a good career in which he is with the front, you will be convinced that it is able to be there and then we will have a new Danny Webb.

Alberto has done an amazing race. After the fall has caught the bike and has soared since the last position until the 17th, but has managed to set the pace with some of the drivers who finished in the top five, has even improved his fastest lap around the end of week in more than a second. It is surprising trends, especially taking into account all the difficulties we've been through this weekend.

We now have three weeks left in which I think Albert can keep doing the same good work so far, but Danny faces three circuits that likes a lot and I'm sure you can make up a large part."

Oxfordshire teenager Bradley Smith was back on the podium after finishing third at the A-Style Grand Prix of Aragon in Spain this afternoon.

It was his third podium finish of the season which came after a dramatic 19 lap race in which Championship leader Marc Marquez was knocked off at the very first corner.  Pol Espargaro went on to win the race from Smith’s team mate Nico Terol who took over the lead in the Championship.

“Great to be back on the podium but I was lucky to finish the race when the engine started to tighten on the last couple of laps,” said Smith, who maintains fourth place in the Championship.  “Of course I want to be number one and that’s what I aim to be fighting for in the last five races of the season.”

Kent based Danny Webb made a great start and eventually finished in ninth place, while Scott Redding was eighth in the Moto2 race after starting from the front row of the grid.

Stoner storms to first win of 2010 at Aragon

Casey Stoner took his first victory of the 2010 campaign at Aragón on Sunday, converting his pole position at the Spanish circuit into a well-deserved win. The Ducati Team rider finished 5.148s ahead of Dani Pedrosa, with Nicky Hayden completing the podium for his first top-three result of the year after a magnificent last-lap overtake on championship leader, Jorge Lorenzo.

Starting from pole Stoner held his position going into the first turn, but usual rapid starter Pedrosa dropped to fifth as the riders bunched up in the tight opening curve. The Repsol Honda rider fought back in the early stages of the race however to climb to second behind Stoner, and the gap between the two fluctuated throughout.

The pair were consistently fast for the duration of the race but Stoner managed to pull away towards the end as he achieved what was eventually a comfortable 25 points, with Pedrosa maintaining his good form in second.

There were battles all the way through the field and none more entertaining than that between Hayden and Lorenzo for the final podium spot. A fearless overtake on Lorenzo by Hayden on the final lap delivered the American the honours, and ended the Fiat Yamaha rider’s record of having placed on the rostrum at every race so far this season.

Ben Spies notched another impressive result with fifth place as he resisted the challenge of Andrea Dovizioso, who crashed out on the final lap whilst pushing hard in better the American

Valentino Rossi rounded off a tough weekend in sixth place, whilst rookies Marco Simoncelli and Álvaro Bautista completed the top eight with solid displays. Marco Melandri and Aleix Espargaró took top-ten finishes, whilst Randy de Puniet escaped injury when he crashed out on lap 16.

Lorenzo’s advantage at the top of the Championship was cut to 56 points and he now stands on 284 points, with Pedrosa on 228 in second. Stoner’s victory lifts him to third on 155, with Rossi staying fourth and Dovizioso dropping to fifth.

Moto2

Andrea Iannone took his third win of 2010 in the Moto2 World Championship at Aragón on Sunday with another dominant performance, securing victory from pole position by a margin of 6.203s over second placed Julián Simón. Iannone’s Fimmco Speed Up teammate Gabor Talmacsi completed the podium with championship leader Toni Elías fourth.

The leading quartet managed to avoid a crash at turn one, which was started by Fonsi Nieto, who also collected Alex Baldolini, Mattia Pasini, Ricky Cardús and Yonny Hernández on his way to the gravel trap. All the riders involved were uninjured.

Just as he'd done to take his first win of the season in Mugello, Iannone got away at the front and immediately set about building an insurmountable gap back to his pursuers.

Alex de Angelis was running towards the front when he suffered the disappointment of crashing out having started from the front row, and it was left to Simón, Simone Corsi and Talmacsi to begin the battle for the final two podium spots.

Jules Cluzel and Scott Redding were part of a chasing pack, which Dominique Aegerter later joined, whilst championship leader Elías overcame a difficult grid position of 12th to rise to fifth by the midway point of the race.

All the while at the front Iannone was riding a comfortable race with a solid lead, which stood at as much as eight seconds towards the closing stages. The Italian eventually repeated his wins from pole that came at Mugello and Assen, with Simón holding off Talmacsi’s challenge. It was the Mapfre Aspar rider’s third consecutive second place finish, with Talmacsi taking a well-deserved first podium of the season.

Elías completed an impressive recovery from the third row to end fourth, coming close to catching the final podium spot, with Corsi, Cluzel, Aegerter, Redding and Stefan Bradl following him across the line. Another impressive ride in 10th came from Thomas Lüthi who overcame a difficult qualification position of 20th to again score points.

There was bitter disappointment for British wild card Kev Coghlan however who had enjoyed a good weekend, qualifying in 13th. The Scottish rider suffered mechanical issues that meant he started from Pit Lane and he was later forced to retire from the race.

Elías remains at the top of the standings and is now on 224 points, 76 ahead of Simón who retains second place. Iannone moves into third and is now four points off Simón, with Lüthi fourth and Corsi fifth.

125cc

Pol Espargaró took his third win of the season at Aragón on Sunday with a masterful ride that climaxed in a final-lap fight with Nico Terol, who finished the race second and moved to the top of the championship after a highly dramatic 125cc contest.

There was a huge development not just in the race but also the championship at the very start when Randy Krummenacher crashed at turn one on the opening lap and took Marc Márquez down with him. The Swiss rider was able to remount his bike but Márquez, the championship leader going into the race, was not and suffered his first DNF since the second round at Jerez. Krummenacher was later black flagged for the incident.

That left the trio of Espargaró, Terol and Bradley Smith to contend for the podium positions as they pulled away from the remainder of the field, and the two Spaniards slowly began to open up a gap on the Briton.

Espargaró and Terol engaged in an intriguing scrap that saw the pair swap the lead on a number of occasions throughout, as they attempted to outwit one another. At one stage Terol appeared to be pulling away but his rival responded and kept a close check on him going into the final lap.

It was then that Espargaró made a daring bid for victory, going round the outside of Terol and assuming the lead which he held to cross the finish line just 0.050s ahead of the Bancaja Aspar rider, whose team-mate Bradley Smith rode to a lonely third place at 9.410s further back for his third podium of the campaign – his first since Catalunya.

Efrén Vázquez came in fourth at just over 6.5s back, with Sandro Cortese and Tomoyoshi Koyama completing the top six. Esteve Rabat edged Jonas Folger for seventh place by just over a tenth of a second, with Danny Webb and Luis Salom scoring top-ten finishes.

The repercussions of the race result for the championship were that Terol now leads on 208 points, with Espargaró moving into second on 202 whilst Márquez drops to third and remains on 197.

Seventeen year old Scott Redding returns to grand prix action at the A-Style Aragon Grand Prix in Spain on Sunday. The Gloucestershire teenager was involved in the Moto2 crash at Misano in Italy where Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa tragically lost his life last week.

Redding, who remembers nothing of the crash and received 12 stitches in a back wound, tests the Marc VDS Suter machine at Valencia this week before traveling to the 3.154 miles Aragon circuit for round 12 of the Moto2 World Championship.

Oxfordshire teenager Bradley Smith was testing at Valencia last week to try and sort out the lacks of revs that has slowed his 125cc Bancaja Aspar Aprilia in the opening laps of the last three grands prix. Despite starting from pole Smith had to fight through the field to finish fourth in Misano and he lies fourth in the Championship behind Marc Marquez, Nico Terol and Pol Espargaro.

Kent-based Danny Webb moved into tenth place in the Championship after finishing tenth in Misano. He is also seeking a little bit more acceleration round the very quick Aragon circuit that stages its first grand prix on Sunday, from his Andalucia Cajasol Aprilia.

QUOTES

Scott Redding:

"I was gutted when I found out the news about Tomi and it still hasn't really sunk in yet. He was a really good guy and will definitely be missed in the paddock and on the track. My thoughts are with his family, friends and team, who all suffered a huge loss at the weekend."

"I don't remember anything about the crash; one minute I was on the gas as normal and the rest is just a blank. I haven't seen the crash on television, and I don't want to, but I do know that I was very lucky to escape serious injury. The wound to my back is already improving, and I'm determined to get back on the bike as soon as possible. We have a one-day test at Valencia  this week, which will give me a chance to check everything is okay with my back, before heading to Aragon for the next race."

Bradley Smith:

“Of course our thoughts will be with Shoya when we arrive at Aragon for the next round. Like him we will be all living our dream when practice starts on Friday. It’s tough going at the moment but I’m earning a lot of respect and that’s very important to me. I was happy with my fourth place in Misano despite the problems at the start of the race. I will not give up and we had a test in Valencia on Wednesday. I rode from 9am to 5pm and completed over 80 laps and hopefully that will show this weekend. Also in Aragon we have a Friday morning practice session because it’s a new circuit where I’ve never ridden before.”

Danny Webb:

“We will all be thinking of Shoya when practice starts on Friday. I’m running consistently in the second group and I’m tenth in the Championship but I think I can go even better. My top speed is fantastic but I’m struggling with that initial jump out of the corner. I’m sure with a bit more grunt, particularly in first gear, I could be in the top six a lot more.”

PEDROSA STEPS INTO UNKNOWN CHASING HAT-RICK

Dani Pedrosa steps into the unknown when he chases a hat-rick of MotoGP wins at the A Style Grand Prix of Aragon in Spain on Sunday. The Spanish Repsol Honda rider has dominated the last two grands prix but like everybody else races at the 3.154 miles Aragon circuit for the very first time.

The Aragon circuit in central north-east Spain replaces the Hungarian Grand Prix after the proposed new Lake Balaton circuit was never completed and by all accounts should be a superb high speed venue for round 13 of the MotoGP World Championship.

Despite those two wins Pedrosa still trails Jorge Lorenzo in the Championship by 63 points with five rounds remaining and a calm head from the Fiat Yamaha rider is what’s required to keep that gap manageable as they reach the critical part of the campaign.

Of course it’s not that simple with other riders capable of spoiling the calculations by winning races and finishing on the podium. There is a mighty battle for third place going on between some big hitters including three MotoGP World Champions. Andrea Dovizioso, Pedrosa’s team-mate, has a nine point advantage over World Champions Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner, who share fourth place followed by two American World Champions. Ben Spies riding the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha is ten points adrift and 11 points in front of the ill-fated Nicky Hayden who once again crashed the Ducati on the first lap at the previous round in Misano.

Frenchman Randy De Puniet who continues his rehabilitation from a broken leg is eighth riding the LCR Honda. Italian Marco Melandri, who announced at Misano he was leaving MotoGP, is ninth but with Colin Edwards, Marco Simoncelli and Hector Barbara breathing down his neck.

It’s a crucial time for riders fighting to ensure their MotoGP futures and none more so than the Pramac Ducati pair of Aleix Espargaro and Mika Kallio while Rizla Suzuki team-mates Alvaro Bautista and Loris Capirossi will be going their separate ways at the end of the season. Bautista, who finished a morale-boosting eighth in Misano, looks certain to stay while veteran Capirossi, who crashed on the second bend at Misano, seeks new pastures, probably at Pramac Ducati.

Moto2

Spaniard Toni Elias is running away with the Moto2 Championship after his fourth successive win in the tragic Misano race. Riding the Gresini Moriwaki machine, Elias has won six races and leads countryman Julian Simon by a massive 83 points. Simon, the current 125 cc World Champion, has finished second in the last two races but is being chased hard by former 125 cc World Champion Tom Luthi who bounced back to form with a third place in Misano and the ill fated Italian Andrea Iannone. The trio are separated by just nine points.

125

The closest class is the 125s with three Spanish riders desperate for success in front of the home crowd to improve their Championship chances. Seventeen year old Marc Marquez opened up a slender nine point advantage over Nico Terol following his sixth win of the season riding the Red Bull Ajo Motorsport Derbi. Pol Espargaro is desperate for his third win of the season after dropping a further 11 points behind Terol after finishing a disappointing sixth in Misano. The only rider looking capable to halt the Spanish domination is British teenager Bradley Smith who lies fourth.

EVENT TIME SCHEDULE

Friday 17 September

09.05 - 09.45               Moto2 Free Practice 1
10.05 - 10.50               MotoGP Free Practice 1
11.10 – 11.50              125cc Free Practice 1
13.05 – 13.45              Moto2 Free Practice 2
14.05 – 14.50              MotoGP Free Practice 2
15.10 – 15.50              125cc Free Practice 2

Saturday 18 September

09.05 – 09.45              Moto2 Free Practice 3
10.05 – 10.50              MotoGP Free Practice 3
11.10 – 11.50              125cc Free Practice 3
13.00 – 13.45              Moto2 Qualifying
14.05 – 14.50              MotoGP Qualifying
15.10 – 15.50              125cc Qualifying

Sunday 19 September

08.40 – 09.00              125cc Warm Up
09.10 – 09.30              Moto2 Warm Up
09.40 – 10.00              MotoGP Warm Up
11.00                           125cc RACE (19 laps)
12.15                           Moto2 RACE (21 laps)
14.00                           MotoGP RACE (23 laps)

Time Schedule is GMT +2