Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden take to a completely new circuit on Friday morning as the first ever Grand Prix of Aragon in Spain gets underway with the old format of four practice sessions.
‰ÛÏI'm happy to be going to Aragon. The last two races have been difficult for us and racing at a new track is exciting," Stoner said.
"We'll go into the weekend with optimism and hope that the track is good fun and well suited to the Ducati, although being realistic we know we face a tough job to find something extra. The team and all the engineers are doing a fantastic job so it is a case of giving my maximum and helping come up with something new to improve the feeling with the bike, to get it turning better and find some more grip. More than anything we want to put the last couple of weeks behind us," the Australian concluded.
The previous round at Misano was a complete disaster for Stoner's team-mate Nicky Hayden with the American crashing into Loris Capirossi in the first corner.
‰ÛÏMisano was a really difficult GP for everybody, the kind of weekend we hope never to go through again, but we are racers and we have to continue doing what it is we love so the goal is to go to Aragon and try to be competitive again," Hayden said.
"It is always nice to race at a new circuit ‰ÛÒ it is exciting for the riders but also for the teams and everybody else that works in the paddock. It is a challenge to find the right setting for the bike, especially in terms of the gear ratios and suspension. We start from scratch, with no data to work from, but that is a challenge I always enjoy. Aragon has a lot of elevation changes and is a lot of fun to ride. My wrist is back to 100% so I can't wait to get back on the bike and get back to work with the team.‰Û
