MotoGP™: More records for Michelin at Aragon as Morbidelli claims second win

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) won the Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel (Round 12 of the 2020 MotoGPTM World Championship) to pocket his second victory of the campaign. Second was Alex Rins, chased by SUZUKI ECSTAR team-mate Joan Mir who continues to top the Riders’ standings with three races remaining. There were more records for the MICHELIN Power Slick, three different combinations of which figured on the Spanish podium.  

After qualifying in second place, Morbidelli took control when pole-winner Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) fell on the first of the afternoon’s 23 laps. Once in front, the Italian took advantage of the outstanding grip provided by his medium-compound MICHELIN Power Slicks to pull out a small gap, aided by the race’s fastest lap (1m48.089s) on Lap 5.

The Italian then benefited from his tyres’ longevity to post a sequence of quick times which laid the foundations for what ended up being an unchallenged win. He completed the distance in 41m47.652s, shaving 6.7 seconds off the record-beating duration recorded at the same venue by last week’s victor, Rins.

Running on soft MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear, the Suzuki rider had to settle for second spot (+2s) this time around, followed by Mir (medium/soft) who fought back from 12th on the grid to earn the brand’s third double podium of the season.

The top five – which featured four different bikemakers – was rounded out by Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and the best-placed Ducati finisher Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) who shrugged off late pressure from Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3).

Five of the six available Michelin tyre specs were raced, although the majority of the field opted for medium and soft MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear.

With three grands prix to come, Mir (137 points) is now 14 points clear at the top of the provisional Riders’ classification. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), who was eighth at Aragon, is second, ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales (118 points) who was seventh today.

Next round: Gran Premio de Europa, Valencia, Spain (November 6-8).