ARAGON NEXT STOP FOR MAHINDRA PAIR

Wednesday, 26 September, 2012: The Mahindra team is geared up for the last race of the summer European season, and eager to make an impression and consolidate all gains before leaving home base for the gruelling three-in-a-row flyaway races in Japan, Malaysia and Australia.

At the previous race in Italy, the all-independent Mahindra MGP-30 Moto3™ racer had a new heavier crankshaft for the single-cylinder 250cc four-stroke engine ... and for team regular Danny Webb the results were promising, although testing chances strictly limited by some poor weather at Misano.

“It helps the bike carry speed on the straight,” said Webb, who is set to leave Mahindra Racing at the end of the 2012 season. This will be important at the third of four MotoGP rounds in Spain, at the scenic and challenging Aragon circuit, which adds a straight of almost one kilometre to a variety of fast and slow corners, and hills and dips.

The only Indian team in motorcycle grand prix racing fields one of a very small handful of fully independent machines, making both engine and chassis, in the new-this-year GP class. The challenge to established racing manufacturers has proved difficult, but will be ultimately rewarding; the Indian auto industry giant has promised to persist until it achieves its goals and has recently signed a deal with experienced race engineering firm Suter Racing Technology AG to assist with the development of its 2013 machine.

Set in open countryside in semi-desert conditions, the Aragon circuit joined the MotoGP calendar in 2009. Last year was one of the two-stroke 125 Mahindra's strong results, with both riders in the points. Marcel Schrotter was 11th and Danny Webb 15th.

This year, Webb (21, from England) will race again, alongside exciting Czech teenager Miroslav Popov (17), in only his third MotoGP race, again standing in for injured Italian test-rider/racer Riccardo Moretti.

The Aragon race is the 13th of 17 rounds in the Moto3 championship. Two weeks later, the 'flyaways' begin, then the GP circus returns for one final round in Valencia in Spain in November.

DANNY WEBB
I've got good memories of Aragon, and it's an interesting track. Bad weather meant we didn't have much time in the dry with the new crankshaft at Misano, then I had a really unlucky race with a crash in the first corner. I'm looking forward to trying the new engine again, to keep pushing the project forward.

MIROSLAV POPOV
I had fun at Misano, and a good fight. If only I could have got a better start ... Now I am really excited to get a third chance of a grand prix with Mahindra, and keep on learning.