Aragon Grand Prix, Motorland: Bridgestone Race Review

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa dominated the Aragon Grand Prix today to clinch his fourth win of the season and breathe life back into the championship fight.

It was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Lorenzo who got the better start before Pedrosa took the lead on lap six from where he managed to build a sizeable gap over his compatriot. Pedrosa eventually crossed the line 6.472 seconds ahead of second-placed Lorenzo, while Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso won an exciting battle with teammate Cal Crutchlow to take the final podium place. Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro was the top placed CRT rider and finished in tenth place and now sits just two points behind teammate Randy de Puniet in the championship standings.

Front tyre choice for the race was influenced by the increased track temperatures today, with all but three riders selecting the harder front slick, which due to cool conditions was hardly used in practice and qualifying. Rear tyre choice was more straightforward with all riders choosing to stick with the softer rear slick, the asymmetric construction brought to Aragon for the first time proving its performance over a wide range of conditions.

Pedrosa’s fourth win of the season reduces the gap to Jorge Lorenzo in the championship standings to thirty-three points with four rounds remaining.

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Extra-Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)

Weather: Dry. Ambient 19-20°C; Track 29-30°C (Bridgestone measurement)

Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
“The change in weather today created vastly different conditions to yesterday with track temperatures for the race the highest they were all weekend. The elevated track temperatures resulted in all but three riders deciding to run the harder front slick for the race, while all riders selected the softer rear slick. Overall I am very satisfied with how the tyres performed during the race as even though Dani just missed out on setting a new circuit lap record, the race time was seven seconds quicker than last year which indicates that grip levels remained predictable throughout the race.”

Source: Bridgestone Motorsport Press Release