The Aragón GP was a huge success and saw a huge number of spectators attend the weekend at MotorLand, with a total of 100,000 spectators enjoying the victories of Marc Márquez (MotoGP), Jake Dixon (Moto2) and José Antonio Pradera (Moto3) on the track, as well as the first MotorLand Fan Festival in Grandstand 7, ending the race weekend with a track invasion.
MotorLand returned to the MotoGP calendar in style. After a year of absence, the Aragon Grand Prix returned with great new features . The riders have tried out the new resurfaced track, which was more difficult to ride and conquer the slides of MotorLand due to the poor grip of the circuit. Despite the rain on Friday and Saturday nights in Alcañiz, the track was in optimal conditions, except for some patches of water, for the qualifying sessions and the races of the three categories.
Not only the drivers were going to be the only ones to wear new models in Alcañiz. Fans enjoyed the first MotorLand Fan Festival, a place located behind Grandstand 7 where musical performances, interviews and the icing on the cake, the celebration of the sprint race podium, with a Spanish triplet made up of Marc Márquez, Jorge Martín and Pedro Acosta, took place.
In addition to the festival, fans were able to take part in a track invasion after Sunday’s race, the first time this has been done at MotorLand. A total attendance of 107,425 spectators over the entire weekend was the second best record for the circuit in the 15 years it has hosted the world motorcycle championship.
MARC MÁRQUEZ: LORD AND MASTER OF MOTORLAND
All eyes were on eight-time world champion Marc Márquez. The rider from Cervera arrived in Alcañiz aware that his first victory with Ducati could be on the way, as the Teruel track is one of his favourites with a total of six victories.
From start to finish, the rider wearing the number 93 dominated all the qualifying sessions, the sprint race, the long run on Sunday and smashed the track record of the circuit, stopping the clock at 1’45″801 to take Pole Position. The Gresini rider got off to a smooth start in the sprint race, leading the 11 laps from start to finish and pulling away from Jorge Martín and Pedro Acosta on each lap, with Pecco Bagnaia finishing in ninth position.
In Sunday’s race, Márquez would make a decal of the Saturday session, dominating the 23 laps with hardly any opposition from Martín and Acosta, who would repeat on the podium. It has taken 1,043 days or what is the same, 53 races to see Marc Márquez win a race again . The fans, the vast majority followers of the 93, enjoyed the perfect weekend for the rider from Cervera.
In the fight for the championship, Jorge Martin managed to extend his lead over Pecco Bagnaia to 23 points , after a weekend to forget for the Italian, who crashed in the race with Alex Marquez. Pedro Acosta needed to be competitive again and in Alcañiz he did so, qualifying in third position in both races. Marc Marquez after scoring 37 points moves up to third position in the championship, overtaking Enea Bastianini.
In Moto3 , Spaniard José Antonio Rueda took victory after an excellent comeback. The KTM rider made his debut as a world champion, followed by a great performance by Collin Veijer and the podium debut of Luca Lunetta. The intermediate class was responsible for continuing the show. Poleman Jake Dixon took victory after a fine battle with Toni Arbolino who was second. The third step of the podium was taken for the first time in the intermediate class by the Turk Deniz Öncü.
The opening race of the day was Race 2 of the Red Bull Rookies Cup, a wet race won by Malaysian Hakim Danish, a specialist in these types of conditions. Finn Rico Salmela and Spaniard Brian Uriarte completed the podium.