Equally as chaotic as the race was any effort to keep up with the several storylines unfolding as the race progressed. Jorge Lorenzo capturing his first win of the season at his home track was the statistically important event of the day.
More intriguing was the top three riders in the points standings experiencing wrecks in their limit-pushing decisions to race on slick tires in wet conditions (exception: Rossi, who wrecked before rain arrived).
Possibly even more intriguing were the two Brits and a German finishing in the top five, taking the spots typically occupied by Spanish and Italian riders.
But the most intriguing narrative to come out of Aragon was the Ducati 14.2 situation. While the other events I mentioned were byproducts of risky racing in the rain, isolated incidents that ended at the Aragon race, the Ducati story will still be creating a buzz when the Japan race starts. The Italian manufacturer’s first fielding of a new, heavily modified bike ended in both riders, Iannone and Dovizioso, crashing at Aragon. To some degree, the Ducati riders showed promise, which might come off as strange considering both of their Ducati 14.2 efforts ended in wrecks, but further analysis suggests otherwise.
Andrea Iannone qualified on the front row and started the race strong. He pulled out to an early lead and effectively defended it through the first lap. What’s more, he engaged in tight racing with Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, and put up a fight that we wouldn’t have expected earlier this season. Hopefully Japan offers dry conditions and we’ll see what Iannone can do on this bike in a long run, because his early departure from the Aragon race left me wondering what could have been.
Dovizioso wrecked in qualifying, which undoubtedly put a damper on any momentum he could have built for the weekend, so when he also crashed out of the race, it wasn’t as unpleasant of a shock as watching Iannone’s day end. But Dovizioso, too, may have had more to offer than the results suggest. He was confident that he could have competed in the end.
“I even think I could have fought it out for the win with [Lorenzo], seeing the way things turned out,” Dovizioso said. “It was a situation we should have taken advantage of because a lot of riders made mistakes. Luckily I only bruised my buttock, not my pelvis, it hurts a bit but it’s nothing serious.”
The future Ducati Team mates are able to race and on the climb, and if they can harness the advantages of their new bikes, they can raise eyebrows in Japan and the three following races before heading into the offseason.
