The undulating and technically challenging 5.1km Motorland Aragon track provides the next stern test for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Franco Morbidelli and Thomas Lüthi in the last European race ahead of a sequence of four flyaway races

Italian star Franco Morbidelli has one clear goal on his mind heading into round 14 of the MotoGP World Championship at the state-of-the-art Motorland Aragon track in Spain this weekend.

The reigning Moto2 World Champion is eager to get back on track and increase his advantage in the race to be crowed Rookie of the Year, which he now leads by two-points over Hafizh Syahrin following a strong overall performance last time out at his home round in San Marino.

Morbidelli advanced into Q2 for just the second time this season and then put up a rousing fight for the top 10 at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli before he eventually claimed a hard fought 12th position.

Misano was Morbidelli’s best result since Jerez, and having reclaimed the lead in the Rookie of the Year contest, he is now determined not to relinquish his position of authority in the remaining six races of the campaign.

Morbidelli has an impressive record in Motorland Aragon having finished third in the 2016 Moto2 encounter, which he followed up last season with a stunning victory after an enthralling race-long duel with compatriot Mattia Pasini.

Thomas Lüthi heads to the historic town of Alcaniz aiming to bounce back from a difficult weekend in Misano where he was unable to find confidence to push his Honda RC213V machine to the limit.

The Swiss rider though remains fully motivated and optimistic he can pose a stronger challenge in Motorland Aragon, which is a track where he has finished fourth at in three of his previous four appearances in Moto2.

Morbidelli and Lüthi will begin the weekend’s action in FP1 on Friday morning at 955am, while it will be lights out for the MotoGP race at 2pm local time on Sunday.

Franco Morbidelli: 16th in the overall standings on 26-points

“I am really looking forward to going to Motorland Aragon because it’s a track where I have always been fast on since my first year in the World Championship. It’s very technical with lots of different challenges and I can’t wait to see what it will be like to ride it on a MotoGP bike. I think at Silverstone we made a step with the setting of the bike and improved the electronics and I showed that in Misano, which was a very positive weekend to get through Q1 and then fight in the top 10 for part of the race. I’m keen to see if the improvements we have made work in Motorland Aragon too and hopefully I can put on another nice performance like I did in Misano.”

Thomas Lüthi: 25th in the overall standings

“I’m looking forward to the race in Aragon because it’s a track I have never ridden a MotoGP bike at before and that makes it a very exciting prospect. It’s a nice track with a lot of undulation and a lot of technical sections. This is going to make it a challenge but I’m looking to try and make some steps forward with my feeling on the bike, which is very important for us. We will continue to keep working hard like always and I and all of my crew is pushing at 100% to have some success in the next races.”

Track facts / MotorLand Aragon (Alcañiz, Spain)

Length: 3.155 miles (5.077 metres)
Width: 49.21 ft. (15 metres)
Corners: 10 (left) + 7 (right)
Longest straight: 3175.85 ft. (968 metres)
MotoGP Race: 23 laps, 72.5 miles (116.8 km)
Best pole: Marc Marquez (1:46.635 – 2015)
Circuit record: Jorge Lorenzo (1:48.120 – 2015)
Top speed: Andrea Iannone 214.3 mph (345.8 kph) – 2015

2017 race winner: Marc Marquez (42:06.816)