Michelin: Aragon ‘another kind of challenge’, | Bagnaia looking for 'revenge!'

Absent from last year’s MotoGP calendar, Aragon has also been resurfaced ahead of next weekend’s 2024 grand prix return.

The Spanish track joined the MotoGP calendar in 2010 and, including the second 2020 Teruel round, hosted 14 premier-class events before last year’s temporary absence.

With no testing data for the new surface, Michelin will bring an expanded line-up of three (rather than two) rear tyre specifications, alongside the usual three fronts.

“Aragon will be another kind of challenge because the asphalt is new and we haven’t ridden there,” said Michelin’s Piero Taramasso.

“So because it’s a new asphalt without a test we are allowed to bring more specifications.

“So we will have 3 front tyres with symmetric [compounds]. And three asymmetric rear tyres, with a harder compound on the left side.

“So let's see at the end of the month how Aragon will be.”

Honda is the most successful MotoGP manufacturer at Aragon with 7 wins, for Casey Stoner (1), Dani Pedrosa (1) and Marc Marquez (5).

Following Marquez’s most recent win in 2019, the victories have been shared between Suzuki (Alex Rins), Yamaha (Franco Morbidelli) and Ducati (Francesco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini).

The 2022 race saw Gresini rider Bastianini take a close victory over Bagnaia, who was on his way to a first MotoGP title.

Bagnaia returns chasing his third premier-class crown, with Bastianini as his factory Ducati team-mate.

"Last year we didn’t race in Aragon, but two years ago we had a great fight between me and Enea," Bagnaia said after victory in Austria last Sunday. "He won in the last lap, so I would like to have revenge this season! 

"They resurfaced the track, so I feel that the grip will be fantastic, but also the weather will be completely different compared to 2022 because at the moment in Aragon during the day it’s 40 degrees!"

Last weekend’s Austrian MotoGP continued the trend of new lap and race records, although the margin was smaller than at other events.

“[Sunday in Austria] was a positive day for Michelin because the track is very, very demanding,” Taramasso said.

“Everything is pushed to the limit: The brakes, the engine, gasoline consumption and of course also the tyre.

“But we managed to do a very fast race. We beat the old race record [from 2022] by three seconds.

“Also the lap time was there. It was very, very consistent for all the race.

“So we leave this track with the three records [pole, race lap, race time] beaten.”

Michelin uses a special construction to deal with the added stress placed on the rear tyres in Austria but will revert to the normal construction for Aragon.