Aragon, September 02, 2024: The Repsol Honda Team walk away from the Aragon GP with small rewards for a long weekend of intense work, Joan Mir crossing the line in 15th while Luca Marini salvages 17th.
Track conditions were the talk of the paddock once again on Sunday in Aragon. A wet morning Warm Up due to overnight rains introduced an extra element of unpredictability into the MotoGP race-day mix. Luca Marini shone in the conditions, ending seventh with teammate Joan Mir in 16th. As the sun roared in the sky, it was clear the race would be dry.
Starting the race just behind his Repsol Honda Team teammate, Joan Mir was immediately on the move as the lights went out on the 23-lap race. Working hard to stay with the group, the race would be one largely of self-focus for Mir as he worked to extract the maximum possible information from the weekend. Incidents further ahead would see the 2020 MotoGP World Champion moved up into the points and cross the line in 15th.
From 20th on the grid, Luca Marini was eager to make the most of the ever-improving conditions. Compromised with an issue on the line, Marini would start the race already out of contention for points. Despite this, the Italian diligently kept his head down and went to work lap after lap – running his own race where more data was the focus. Lapping steadily in the 1’50s, his pace showed he had the speed to battle with his teammate in the group fighting for points. The Italian is hoping for a home boost from local fans at the next race to break his run of bad luck.
A highlight of Sunday for the entire MotoGP paddock was seeing 1999 500cc World Champion Alex Criville reunited with his title-winning Honda NSR500 for a lap of honour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Spain’s first Premier Class World Champion.
There isn’t long to wait for the next round of the MotoGP World Championship as the Repsol Honda Team pack up and immediately head to Misano for Round 13 – the Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. A key one-day test will follow the race, Honda HRC primed to take full advantage of the extra day of running before the championship begins its end of year sprint.
Joan Mir (15th)
“Today in the race we tried something really, really different on the bike to try and fix some issues we have been having. The sort of change that you can’t normally make during a weekend. It was not the direction to follow, but it has helped us to understand a lot of things. It’s something really good that we were able to try and the information we have will help in the long term. I am struggling mostly on corner entry where I was strong before so this is one thing to work on as well.”
Luca Marini (17th)
“The start of the race today is something we need to investigate because obviously it meant we were out of contention, I had to come back into the pit lane. It’s a pity because we are really getting closer and closer, making progress every session but we are not making the most of opportunities – we had the chance to score good points today with what happened ahead. My laps were similar to the other Honda riders which shows we could have been there without the start. Now we go to Misano which is a completely different track.”
Aragon GP – Race Result
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap 1 MARQUEZ MARC 93 SPA 25 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 41:47.082 2 MARTIN JORGE 89 SPA 20 Pramac Racing Ducati 4.789 3 ACOSTA PEDRO 31 SPA 16 Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 KTM 14.904 4 BINDER BRAD 33 RSA 13 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 16.459 5 BASTIANINI ENEA 23 ITA 11 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 18.776 6 MORBIDELLI FRANCO 21 ITA 10 Pramac Racing Ducati 20.549 7 DI GIANNANTONIO FABIO 49 ITA 9 Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Ducati 21.159 8 BEZZECCHI MARCO 72 ITA 8 Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Ducati 24.759 9 RINS ALEX 42 SPA 7 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 39.420 10 MILLER JACK 43 AUS 6 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 39.966 11 ESPARGARO ALEIX 41 SPA 5 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 40.602 12 NAKAGAMI TAKAAKI 30 JPN 4 LCR Honda Honda 41.782 13 FERNANDEZ AUGUSTO 37 SPA 3 Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 KTM 42.083 14 ZARCO JOHANN 5 FRA 2 LCR Honda Honda 43.264 15 MIR JOAN 36 SPA 1 Repsol Honda Team Honda 49.735 16 FERNANDEZ RAUL 25 SPA 0 Trackhouse Racing Aprilia 57.322 17 MARINI LUCA 10 ITA 0 Repsol Honda Team Honda 112.386 18 BAGNAIA FRANCESCO 1 ITA DNF Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati DNF 19 MARQUEZ ALEX 73 SPA DNF Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati DNF 20 VINALES MAVERICK 12 SPA DNF Aprilia Racing Aprilia DNF 21 QUARTARARO FABIO 20 FRA DNF Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha DNF 22 OLIVEIRA MIGUEL 88 POR DNF Trackhouse Racing Aprilia DNF
Rider standings
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor 1 MARTIN JORGE 89 SPA 299 Pramac Racing Ducati 2 BAGNAIA FRANCESCO 1 ITA 276 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 3 MARQUEZ MARC 93 SPA 229 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 4 BASTIANINI ENEA 23 ITA 228 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 5 ACOSTA PEDRO 31 SPA 148 Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 KTM 6 BINDER BRAD 33 RSA 145 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 7 VINALES MAVERICK 12 SPA 139 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 8 ESPARGARO ALEIX 41 SPA 118 Aprilia Racing Aprilia 9 DI GIANNANTONIO FABIO 49 ITA 113 Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Ducati 10 MARQUEZ ALEX 73 SPA 104 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 11 MORBIDELLI FRANCO 21 ITA 83 Pramac Racing Ducati 12 BEZZECCHI MARCO 72 ITA 81 Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Ducati 13 OLIVEIRA MIGUEL 88 POR 60 Trackhouse Racing Aprilia 14 MILLER JACK 43 AUS 53 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 15 QUARTARARO FABIO 20 FRA 51 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 16 FERNANDEZ RAUL 25 SPA 46 Trackhouse Racing Aprilia 17 FERNANDEZ AUGUSTO 37 SPA 19 Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 KTM 18 NAKAGAMI TAKAAKI 30 JPN 17 LCR Honda Honda 19 ZARCO JOHANN 5 FRA 16 LCR Honda Honda 20 RINS ALEX 42 SPA 15 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 21 MIR JOAN 36 SPA 14 Repsol Honda Team Honda 22 PEDROSA DANI 26 SPA 7 KTM Test Team KTM 23 ESPARGARO POL 44 SPA 6 KTM Test Team KTM 24 MARINI LUCA 10 ITA 1 Repsol Honda Team Honda 25 SAVADORI LORENZO 32 ITA 0 Trackhouse Racing Aprilia 26 BRADL STEFAN 6 GER 0 HRC Test Team Honda 27 GARDNER REMY 87 AUS 0 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha