Paris (AFP)

A week after Danilo Petrucci's victory at Le Mans, the 7th winner in 9 races, the MotoGP riders meet again this weekend in Aragon, only ten points separating Fabio Quartararo and Joan Mir at the top of the championship.

All but one: Valentino Rossi, who announced Thursday night on Twitter that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and will therefore miss this round and probably the next, on this same circuit on October 25.

The 41-year-old Italian legend will therefore not be able to take this opportunity to make people forget his falls during the three previous races.

For Quartararo, the points of his 9th place at Le Mans and the fact of having finished in front of the Spaniard allowed him to keep the lead of the provisional classification with five rounds remaining.

However, the MotorLand Aragon circuit is not suitable for Yamaha who lack top speed.

They have not won there since 2015 and it is Marc Marquez on his Honda who has won the last four editions.

But the six-time world champion and Spanish title holder is not here this year, still sidelined by his broken arm.

"It's a track that could be a bit difficult for us," said Quartararo, who finished 5th there last year for his first year in MotoGP.

"But we have the motivation to get a good result there because we are fighting for the championship."

His only consolation is that Joan Mir and Alex Rins' Suzuki are not starting favorites either.

They share with the Yamaha an inline four-cylinder engine architecture that promotes handling at the expense of top speed.

The first got 14th place last year and the second the 9th.

But Mir, who has never won in MotoGP before, has a victory on this circuit in 2017 while racing in Moto3.

"It's a track that I like a lot and I'm arriving there in good shape. I'm still close to the lead in the championship standings and I managed to save points in the last race," said the Mallorcan.

Honda could come as a surprise, all the more so as Alex Marquez, Marc's younger brother, remains on an excellent second place at Le Mans in track conditions which are however a bit particular with cold and rain.

It should be fine this weekend in Aragon with temperatures around 20 degrees.

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Ducatis are among the favorites.

Petrucci's victory last Sunday revived them and his teammate Andrea Dovizioso is only 18 points behind Quartararo after a 4th place at Le Mans.

Jack Miller, who races for the Pramac satellite team, will be keen to make people forget his retirement in France due to mechanical breakdown and his teammate Francesco Bagnaia is still on the lookout for a first victory in MotoGP.

The Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ducati-Avintia) is also capable of surprising and remains on a good 5th place at Le Mans.

Yamaha leftovers from the factory that disappoint a lot lately.

The Japanese team did not say Thursday whether Rossi would be replaced and Maverick Vinales continues to alternate good and bad, still missing his starts.

But, thanks to his consistency, the Spaniard is only one point behind "Dovi" in the provisional classification of the championship.

KTMs can count on their power.

Already twice victorious this season with Brad Binder for the factory and Miguel Oliveira with the French satellite team Tech3, they are in ambush.

In the other categories, the ranking narrowed in Moto2 and Luca Marini is only 15 points ahead of Enea Bastianini and 20 over Marco Bezzecchi, the trio of Italians seeing the Briton Sam Lowes, winner at Le Mans .

The Spaniard Aron Canet, who was injured there, is replaced by the Andorran Xavi Cardelus.

In Moto3, four riders stand behind 20 points in the championship: the Spaniard Albert Arenas is followed by the Japanese Ai Ogura with the Italians Celestino Vietti and Tony Arbolino just behind.

© 2020 AFP