Andrea Locatelli and Jonathan Rea are ready to take on one of the more challenging and technical circuits on the calendar, MotorLand Aragon, this weekend for Round 10 of the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship from 26-28 September.
The highest point of the Spanish circuit lies 50m above the start-finish straight, a climb that steeply drops down the “Corkscrew” of Turns 8 and 9, a 7.2% gradient descent. Yamaha Rider Coach Eugene Laverty keen insight into Aragon’s 5.077km layout.
“Aragon is a fantastic circuit to ride and it’s the last of the four anti-clockwise circuits on the calendar this season,” Laverty says. “Braking performance is a big focus and it’s important not to rush the final entry in many places. There are a number of switchbacks where you need to stop the bike well and turn tight before changing direction and driving hard through the second part of the chicane. It’s always interesting to stand trackside at Aragon and listen to the different gear choices at the slowest corners of the track. Some riders prefer first gear to stop the bike better whereas others will flow through in second gear.”
Set-up plays a part as always, in order to allow the rider to make the most of the package and take advantage of strengths in different areas, such as turning on the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK.
“The rider spends more time than usual at full lean so it’s important to have a bike that naturally turns well at Aragon. The slowest part of the circuit, the complex with Turn 15, leads onto the back straight where it’s so important for the electronics engineers to control both the power and anti-wheelie well. It also leads onto the final passing place so it’s truly the key part of the circuit.”
WorldSBK’s schedule starts with Free Practice 1 and 2 at 10:35 and 15:00 CEST respectively on Friday, with cool mornings and largely sunny weather predicted across the race weekend.
Andrea Locatelli
“The trend for us is to be consistently in the top four or five, especially after testing and a couple of strong weekends like Misano, Donington and Balaton. I was a bit unlucky starting from the back in Magny-Cours but the speed was there as well. I think we can continue to fight for this top five position, taking important points for the championship in every race – for sure it is a different circuit in Aragon, but I am positive that we can keep working well and that we can have another good weekend. I love to ride in Aragon! It is an interesting kind of track: fast, flowing, up and down! It is for me one of the most beautiful circuits we have in the calendar. We will try our best and keep working in the right direction until the end of the season because we have the potential, and the opportunity to finish third in the championship is still open. The motivation is high to deliver another strong result.”
Jonathan Rea
“I’m really looking forward to Aragon, it’s a circuit that I enjoy – it’s got great character and a little bit of everything! From fast-flowing sections, to sections where you really need to stop the bike and then of course, the long back straight to negotiate. Friday is going to be super important to try to maximise the potential of our Yamaha R1 WorldSBK – and like we proved in Magny-Cours, when we can start well and get track position early, we can be quite competitive. Like always, a lot of emphasis on maximising laps on Friday and working with Superpole in the back of our mind to get the best start position possible. Unfortunately, we missed the test there a few weeks ago, so we will calmly approach the start on Friday. But, it’s important to be fast and we hope to find the flow that we enjoyed in Magny-Cours. Let’s see what the weekend holds! The weather looks like it’s going to be consistent, so we will try to maximise our opportunities in Aragon.”
Posted on September 24, 2025 by Michael Le Pard
