Mirco Lazzari Photo via Nick Sannen's Twitter Feed - Nicky Hayden crash photographered from the other side of the barrier

Guareschi: “The worse outcome was a bad scare for us all”
Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi both had costly off-track excursions in the early stages of the Aragon GP, with the former crashing upon striking a tyre wall and the latter having to fight through the pack after re-entering the circuit and completing the first lap in last place.

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"Thumbs Up"

(translated with Google)

The starting line will be the third, eighth for Valentino Rossi in qualifying Aragon, half a disappointment after the podium at Misano . The situation in Spain was not easy, the advantage of having played test on the track this time it was to the advantage of the opponents and to make matters worse they also put the bad weather and a fall in the middle of the turn. " In the end we have been fortunate to have at least one turn in the dry "the consolation of the Doctor. As for the slide, the explanation is simple: " the curve when I went to the ground is the first right after so many on the left, likely that the rubber on that side was not hot enough - he says - also in the change of direction the bike I surged slightly and insert the front load was not enough , and slipped away . "'

Read more: http://www.gpone.com/index.php/201209298368/Rossi-la-caduta-ha-tolto-tempo-prezioso.html#ixzz27x0MDgzw

 Following his podium finish at Aragon in 2010 (his second and last dry weather podium on the Ducati), Nicky Hayden is looking to repeat that performance with the GP12 'evo', which he will race for the first time this weekend.
"Another 10 days have passed since Misano, and although I'm probably still not at 100% strength, I'm definitely better than I was then - the Kentucky Kid revealed - This track is a little easier physically than Misano, where there are several hard braking zones. Here there are a lot of elevation changes, and often you are braking somewhat softly while the bike is leaned over.

Read more: http://www.gpone.com/index.php/en/201209278336/Hayden-GP12-evo-more-mine-than-Rossi-s.html#ixzz27pHgqkPH

Despite coming off of his best dry weather result with Ducati, there are still many open questions for Valentino Rossi at Aragon. "This weekend will be an important test to better understand our level - the Italian rider revealed - we took a step forward, but we need to know how big it was. I tried other updates during the Monday post-race test that were also an improvement, but now we need confirmation."

Read more: http://www.gpone.com/index.php/en/201209278337/Rossi-ducatisti-I-m-disappointed-too.html#ixzz27pGQTV86

 Rain affects free practice at Aragon GP
The first two free practice sessions at the Aragon Grand Prix were affected by bad weather. The first, which was postponed by one hour in order to clean up an oil spill that had occurred during the Moto3 session, was rendered useless by mixed conditions, which were neither entirely wet nor entirely dry. The second, which was completely wet, could prove to be important if the forecasts calling for rain in tomorrow’s qualifying session are correct.

For the rider interviews and the rest of this story click HERE

The Ducati Team is preparing to return to the track at the Spanish Aragon circuit for the fourteenth round on the championship calendar. The season is entering its final phase, which will conclude at Valencia, with three consecutive extra-European races to run in between the two Spanish races.

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The 'Carlos Checa Curve' becomes part of MotorLand Aragon...

On Friday evening Althea Racing Ducati's 2011 World Champion Carlos Checa unveiled a number 7 structure representing the new 'Carlos Checa Curve', erected in his honour. The difficult uphill right-hander formerly known as Turn 3 now becomes the first corner at the MotorLand circuit to be given a name. See the rest HERE

Aragon (Spain), Wednesday 27th June 2012: Having just participated in World Ducati Week at the Misano World Circuit, a four-day event which came to a close on Sunday, the Althea Racing team and riders Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano now turns its attention to round eight of the 2012 World Superbike Championship, taking place at Checa’s home track of MotorLand Aragon in Spain.
At the latest Misano round, which took place over two weeks ago, the team celebrated a double podium in race 1 when Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano crossed the line in second and third place respectively, both having put on an impressive show in front of the Italian crowds; unfortunately the success was not to continue, with both riders crashing out of the second race.
The MotorLand Aragon circuit, new to the SBK calendar last season, has already proved to be a happy hunting ground for Giugliano who won his Stock 1000 race in 2011. That same weekend saw Checa score a podium finish in SBK race 2, third, after crashing out as a result of a highside in race 1.
After seven of fourteen rounds, Carlos Checa lies in fifth position in the general standings with 150.5 points, while Davide is ninth with 80 points. Ducati leads the manufacturer’s championship with 222.5 points to Aprilia’s 221.
Carlos Checa:
“We had chance during WDW to work a little on the settings of my 1198 to be as prepared for this weekend’s Aragon races as possible. It’s always good to race at home and I hope that the fans’ enthusiasm help me to make two great results. Last year didn’t go to plan here and so, although it won’t be at all easy, I hope to make up for that now at this important point of the championship.”
Checa’s Superbike form at Aragon:
2011: Race 1- DNF, Race 2 – 3rd
Davide Giugliano:
“I enjoyed racing at Aragon last year when I won the Stock 1000 race, and I hope to make two more solid races this weekend with the Superbike. I like the track, though there’s a long straight that will penalize us. We carried out some testing during WDW, in hot conditions similar to what we’ll probably see in Aragon, and so I think I’m pretty prepared for the race.”