This Sunday’s Aragón Grand Prix marks the MotoGP calendar’s fourteenth round and the second visit to the new motorsports facility in central Spain for the series, where last year the Ducati Team finished with both riders on the podium.

For Nicky Hayden, it was one of his best results aboard the Desmosedici, as he used a beautiful last-lap pass on Jorge Lorenzo to achieve his third-place finish. The American hopes to continue improving his feeling with the GP11.1 so that he can be consistently fast from the free practice sessions on.

Valentino Rossi finished sixth at Aragón last year, but he approaches the Aragón weekend with determination and focus for the work that he’s carrying out with the Ducati technicians and his team.

Nicky Hayden:

“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. The track was brand-new then, and it was grippy and completely smooth, so we’ll see how well it’s held up. It has a lot of ups and downs, and quite a few corners with open exits, which should be good for us. I’m 100% okay from my crash at Misano, so no excuses there. Hopefully we can catch a little break and have a good weekend at Aragón.”

Valentino Rossi:

“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 and managed to ride it better in the race, especially in the early laps. Now we’ll try to combine the two things—the track that seems to work well with the Desmosedici and the good setup work—in order to find the same feeling on Sunday.”

Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager:

“We have some great memories of Aragón from last year, so we’re happy to return. Every season has its own story though, and we’re obviously currently working not only for this weekend but also beyond. Our riders and team are completely focused on the goal, and they’re giving us a collaborative working group that I think is extremely important. At Aragón, we expect to continue gathering data and information on the Desmosedici and to speed up the setup work during the practice sessions.”

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