It only seems two minutes since MotoGP landed in Europe, and now there’s just one round to go until the championship jets off to Asia!
This weekend, the race will officially be titled the Gran Premio Michelin de Aragon, with the tyre manufacturer acting as the title sponsor for the round.
Last year’s race winner Marc Marquez holds the current lap record at Aragon, which he set back in 2015, and he heads into this weekend as a clear favourite for the race win.
The 5,077m long track includes seven right-handers and ten left-handers, and is one of the few tracks where Michelin supply asymmetric tyres with the harder compound on the left shoulder of the tyre. Turn 16 to 17 is flagged by Michelin as a high stress zone for their race tyres, with riders going hard on the brakes before leaning the bike over and then driving hard out of the corner towards the finish line.
All rear Power Slick and Power Rain tyres will be of asymmetric design, with all fronts symmetric.
Piero Taramasso, Michelin’s 2-Wheel Motorsport Manager commented:
“It is a very special thing to have the Michelin Grand Prix in Europe, it is closer to Clermont-Ferrand than Australia was, so there will be many people from the factory visiting us to understand more about MotoGP and see the excitement for themselves.
Aragon is a very demanding circuit, its layout needs close attention and the surface can be cool in the mornings, very hot in the afternoon and can also be quite abrasive if the wind blows the dust over from the surrounding area.
We have to make a range to contend with these different factors and as was shown last year – when it was the hottest it had ever been at Aragon for MotoGP – we gave the riders an allocation that all could use and set some fast times. We have unfinished business at Aragon and will be looking to set some records and are determined to do that as it is our Grand Prix.”
