The Marc VDS Racing Team is back in action this weekend at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain, venue for round 13 of the FIM Moto2 World Championship.

Scott Redding heads to Aragon with a 23-point advantage at the top of the championship standings, a lead he’s keen to extend at a circuit where he finished on the podium 12 months ago.

Redding would be forgiven for feeling a sense of Déjà vu this weekend. Last year the Moto2 championship leader arrived at Aragon having had a carpel tunnel decompression operation, while this season Redding bears the scars from an operation on a compressed nerve in his right forearm.

The 20-year-old Briton checked into the Hospital Universitario Quirón Dexeus on Wednesday last week, having lost all feeling in the fingers of his right hand during the race in Misano two weeks ago. Doctor Xavier Mir performed the surgery and, despite now having 19 staples in his right forearm, Redding has declared himself ready to race this weekend.

Mika Kallio arrives in Aragon off the back of a very successful weekend in the final round of the CIV Superbike series at Mugello. The 30-year-old Finn dominated aboard the Marc VDS backed, Thevent Racing Team BMW HP4, claiming pole position and winning both races by a considerable margin. On the same weekend Kallio also put pen to paper on a contract that will see him remain with the Marc VDS Racing Team in Moto2 for the 2014 season. 

Aragon hasn’t been particularly kind to Kallio since it appeared on the Moto2 calendar back in 2010, but with his confidence boosted by a top ten finish in Misano and those two Superbike wins in Mugello, the Marc VDS rider heads to Spain determined to close the 19-point gap to third place in the championship standings.

The Marc VDS Racing Team’s Moto3 rider, Livio Loi, has his sights set firmly on a points scoring finish this weekend, having missed out in Misano only due to two collisions in the race.

Scott Redding #45 // @Reddingpower
“In Misano I lost all feeling in the fingers on my right hand and I couldn’t feel how much pressure I was putting on the brake lever. The championship battle with Pol, and maybe Tito, is going to go down to the wire and I need to be completely fit if I’m to fight my corner, which is why I opted to have the surgery now, before we head overseas for three races in the same number of weekends. The arm is a bit sore, but I can deal with that. The most important thing is that I’m fit to race and the problem with my arm is fixed once and for all. I’m looking forward to this weekend; I finished on the podium in Aragon last year and my target is to do the same this time around.”

Mika Kallio #36:
“It doesn’t matter where you win – MotoGP, Italian Championship or even ice racing in Finland during the winter – the feeling is always special and that is good for your confidence. The Mugello weekend was fun, but it was also a good opportunity to manage a race from the front, which is quite hard mentally. I hope that we can take some of the feeling from Mugello into this weekend at Aragon, where I need to finish in front of Tito Rabat if I’m to close the gap to third place in the championship.”

Livio Loi #11// @LivioLoi
“Misano was a difficult weekend, but I managed to adapt my riding style to get a bit more from the bike in the race compared to practice and qualifying, which was definitely a step in the right direction. I hope we can continue in this way at Aragon this weekend, where we need to get the bike dialled in earlier, ready for qualifying. As always, my goal remains the same; to finish in the points on Sunday.”