2017 Aragon MotoGP Results
Heading into Motorland Aragon for the 14th round of 2017 MotoGP, the two hottest stories were:
- Two riders were tied for the lead: Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso.
- Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi would compete just 25 days after breaking his right leg.
Both stories provided energy throughout the Aragon GP. The tie was broken after Marquez would battle his way into the lead on lap 15 of 23, claiming his fifth win of 2017 MotoGP along with the points lead.
As for Rossi? The nine-time World Champion finished the race in fifth.
Marquez was joined on the podium by his teammate Dani Pedrosa and Ducati Team’s Jorge Lorenzo, which was the five-time World Champion’s second podium with Ducati.
“I’m very very happy with this victory because it was a tough race,” says Marc Marquez, who chases his fourth premier-class title. “Yesterday I wasn’t feeling totally comfortable with the bike, and today I was struggling again except in the warm-up; I don’t really know why. Anyway, racing at one of my favorite tracks, close to my home and in front of my fans, gave me extra motivation.”
“I pushed hard and in some corners I just clicked the off-button in my head, even if I crashed twice yesterday. I saw that Viñales and Dovizioso were struggling a bit and knew it was the moment to push, so I did. There were a few scary moments, once when I was trying to overtake Valentino; he was tighter in that corner than I was expecting, and to avoid a clash I released the brakes, only to realize that Lorenzo was right there!
“So I went off the track, and at that moment I cooled down a bit, even if I continued to try and close the gap. Once I passed Lorenzo, I had to keep going as I saw that Dani was coming very fast. Anyway, that’s the Marquez style! Of course it’s important to think of the Championship, but the situation now requires that we give it everything. So we’ll try to continue with the same motivation and mentality race by race, giving our 100 percent.”
