Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden, Valentino Rossi aiming high for Motorland Argon – MotoGP news
Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi are aiming to do well at the third Spanish and 14th MotoGP round of 2011, the Motorland Aragon Grand Prix.
In 2010, the American Ducati rider made a clean sweep over Jorge Lorenzo and stood at the third step on the podium. Kentucky Kid’s former Ducati teammate Casey stoner won the event.
Hayden said, “It’s nice to go back to Aragón, which I like. We haven’t been there a lot, so it’s still new and fun. Last year, it was clearly our best weekend of the season, and in theory, it should suit me and our bike a little bit this time as well.”
While commenting on the track and his performance in 2010, he said that the track was new back then. The fresh asphalt provided a lot of grip with a smooth ride feel. For this season’s event, it is yet to see how the track behaves with the bikes, he said.
The layout flows over several ups and downs with some bends having tight exits. This characteristic of the circuit will be helpful for the Ducati race setup. Hayden also talked about his fitness after the Misano crash and said he feels fully fit for the
Aragon race weekend. He is also confident to race with the GP11.1.
The Italian veteran, Valentino Rossi was aboard a Yamaha M1 in 2010 and now it will be his first race with a struggling GP11.1. Rossi is fighting hard to improve with his newly bred ride.
Rossi said, “Last year at Aragón was the best race of the year for Ducati, so we approach this round with our expectations a little higher than usual. In addition, after the difficult practice sessions at Misano we found a good setup in the end and I had
a better feeling with the bike.”
By the end of the San Marino weekend, Rossi was able to tune a better race setup. However, he lapped better times in the race. Considering the 2010 Aragon event, the Ducati team was very successful and are hoping to repeat their performance this time around.
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