No one was surprised when Jorge Lorenzo went instantly to the top in Aragon Friday practice. Yamaha only weeks ago ran a special test here, moving its base setting a day ahead of anyone else’s. Yet no one was surprised when Honda’s Marc Marquez went to the top on Saturday, then qualified on pole, after switching from harder to softer tire options. He finds a way. Neither was anyone surprised when Lorenzo nailed the start from the second starting position. Marquez lost a couple of positions at the start, then quickly pushed past injured-but-quick Andrea Iannone on the Ducati to be on Lorenzo’s back wheel in the second lap. These are all things we have seen before and which we expect. But instead of a grinding race-long duel between Lorenzo’s refined perfection and Marquez’s continuing dogged adaptation to the Honda’s harsher 2015 power, Marc’s hot pace proved less accurately matched to the Aragon surface than Jorge’s. Away went front grip in Turn 12, the Honda inverting to slide on its top in the gravel. Marquez was up in an instant, but before heaving the bike upright from a kneeling position, he shook his fists above his knees in frustration. In a comic-book version, his thought balloon would have read, “Zounds! Foiled again!” The bike was not able to continue in the race. 
“This one was completely my mistake,” Marquez said later. "Today I can only apologize to the team and the fans, because we were working very well and we had a very good pace all weekend. On the second lap, when braking for Turn 12, I made a mistake and lost the front. “Maybe the fact that I didn't have anything to lose and it was a home grand prix, I pushed too much. It was not necessary because in one lap I had already caught Jorge. “Maybe with a full fuel tank, also maybe the tires were maybe not at the correct temperature, but I did a mistake. I lost the front and I’m sorry.” Said Lorenzo later: “I took a big sigh of relief because I was pushing so much and my tension level was very high. I was trying to pull away by some meters from Marquez. I knew it was going to be difficult because my pace was very similar to his and after the warm-up I knew his pace was very strong. We probably would have fought all the race and he might have beaten me in the final part because he might not have felt the drop of the tires as much.” 
Lorenzo led every lap to win by 2.7 seconds from an aggressive Dani Pedrosa, who was riding at a strong pace. Right with him was Valentino Rossi, who had attacked repeatedly at the end, borrowing pavement in each attack that would have to be somehow paid back after the pass. The classic “crossover” pass is to come beneath the rider ahead, counting on being able to slow enough to make the corner without being forced wide by the excess speed. Pedrosa was dismissed by some in recent years as fast but not a fighter, yet on this day he instantly did what was necessary to retake the lead, maneuvering with brilliant quickness in the process. Lorenzo had seen “Marquez Out” on his pit board on Lap 2, but the next board told him Pedrosa was close. Said Lorenzo: “I pushed so much, not because I wanted to escape from Marc, but to put some gap on Dani and Valentino. “When I waited one more lap, I saw that the board said “Dani +2.3.” I felt I could breathe, but then suddenly I said to myself: ‘I have to keep focused because Dani always has a good pace at this track. And with Valentino on his back, I knew he would push at the maximum for the whole race.’ “I couldn't relax any time and I had to keep focused and ride very precise to keep the rhythm, so a very important race and very emotional because in the last two races I have some mistakes and also some bad luck with the weather.” 
Rossi spoke of his attempts to pass Pedrosa: “I stayed behind Dani because in the beginning it was very difficult to overtake and I didn’t have enough pace to stay in front. So I had to fight for everything in the last lap. I tried to overtake where I saw I was strong, but already from the first overtake I saw that Dani today was very strong; he always came back. I tried to concentrate and stay on the line at entry every time, but on the last lap we touched and I went over the curb, so at that moment I had just to try all or nothing, you know. In the chicane, I tried without thinking, but he was able to cross the line somehow.” The factory Ducatis of Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso were right where we expect to see them, close behind in fourth and fifth. Iannone commented during practice that he had learned to cope with his injured shoulder by not using maximum strength. The Ducatis are again competitive and will likely become more so. Riders make a clear distinction between pace and lap time. In practice runs, we are shown lap times—good, better, best—but it is pace that wins races. Here at Aragon, only Marquez and Lorenzo had the pace to win. In the movies, underdogs win by magic; they have “heart.” In MotoGP, when your pace is 1.5 seconds slow, you’re 15th. Physics is heartless. 
Yamaha has made headway this year, becoming especially strong on corner exit acceleration and improving in braking stability. Race engineer Ronnie Saner talked about the latter at the New Jersey MotoAmerica finale two weeks ago. He spoke of the sudden pitch induced when the clutch engages after a downshift; that pitch energy persists into the corner as an oscillation, cyclically varying front and rear tire loadings. You have probably seen bikes bouncing on their tires in this way in MotoGP slow-motion footage. What’s significant is this: Any oscillation that persists into the turn limits performance, because the maximum tire grip the rider can use is the reduced amount available when the tire is on the rising (less ground pressure) part of the bounce. Rules permit two Inertial Measuring Units (IMUs) to be aboard, which allow such motions to be studied in detail and a time-based ground-pressure/tire grip plot produced. Get the bike settled, bounce-free, on its tires during entry and you can go in a lot faster. Rossi continues to lead the championship points, 263 to Lorenzo’s 249. Marquez remains distant at 184. Rossi fought to pass Pedrosa so hard to limit Lorenzo’s Aragon “take” to just five points, but it was not to be. Also worth noting: With these results, Movistar Yamaha has locked up the 2015 Team World Championship. Now the MotoGP series flies east for Japan, Australia, and Malaysia, before returning to Europe for the final round at Valencia. Results: 2015 MotoGP of Aragon
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Time/Gap |
| 1 | LORENZO Jorge | 99 | SPA | 25 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 41'44.933 |
| 2 | PEDROSA Dani | 26 | SPA | 20 | Repsol Honda Team | +2.683 |
| 3 | ROSSI Valentino | 46 | ITA | 16 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | +2.773 |
| 4 | IANNONE Andrea | 29 | ITA | 13 | Ducati Team | +7.858 |
| 5 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | 4 | ITA | 11 | Ducati Team | +24.322 |
| 6 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | SPA | 10 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | +24.829 |
| 7 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | 35 | GBR | 9 | LCR Honda | +25.367 |
| 8 | SMITH Bradley | 38 | GBR | 8 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | +25.503 |
| 9 | ESPARGARO Pol | 44 | SPA | 7 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | +26.452 |
| 10 | HERNANDEZ Yonny | 68 | COL | 6 | Pramac Racing | +43.889 |
| 11 | VINALES Maverick | 25 | SPA | 5 | Team Suzuki Ecstar | +44.255 |
| 12 | REDDING Scott | 45 | GBR | 4 | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | +48.176 |
| 13 | BAUTISTA Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 3 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | +49.755 |
| 14 | LAVERTY Eugene | 50 | IRE | 2 | Aspar MotoGP Team | +50.271 |
| 15 | HAYDEN Nicky | 69 | USA | 1 | Aspar MotoGP Team | +50.364 |
| 16 | BARBERA Hector | 8 | SPA | 0 | Avintia Racing | +50.722 |
| 17 | BAZ Loris | 76 | FRA | 0 | Athina Forward Racing | +51.997 |
| 18 | BRADL Stefan | 6 | GER | 0 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | +53.406 |
| 19 | MILLER Jack | 43 | AUS | 0 | LCR Honda | +56.859 |
| 20 | DI MEGLIO Mike | 63 | FRA | 0 | Avintia Racing | +59.607 |
| 21 | ELIAS Toni | 24 |
Rider Standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team |
| 1 | ROSSI Valentino | 46 | ITA | 263 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP |
| 2 | LORENZO Jorge | 99 | SPA | 249 | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP |
| 3 | MARQUEZ Marc | 93 | SPA | 184 | Repsol Honda Team |
| 4 | IANNONE Andrea | 29 | ITA | 172 | Ducati Team |
| 5 | SMITH Bradley | 38 | GBR | 143 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 |
| 6 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | 4 | ITA | 139 | Ducati Team |
| 7 | PEDROSA Dani | 26 | SPA | 129 | Repsol Honda Team |
| 8 | PETRUCCI Danilo | 9 | ITA | 93 | Pramac Racing |
| 9 | CRUTCHLOW Cal | 35 | GBR | 88 | LCR Honda |
| 10 | ESPARGARO Pol | 44 | SPA | 88 | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 |
| 11 | ESPARGARO Aleix | 41 | SPA | 76 | Team Suzuki Ecstar |
| 12 | VINALES Maverick | 25 | SPA | 74 | Team Suzuki Ecstar |
| 13 | REDDING Scott | 45 | GBR | 67 | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS |
| 14 | HERNANDEZ Yonny | 68 | COL | 47 | Pramac Racing |
| 15 | BAZ Loris | 76 | FRA | 28 | Athina Forward Racing |
| 16 | BAUTISTA Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 26 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini |
| 17 | BARBERA Hector | 8 | SPA | 23 | Avintia Racing |
| 18 | MILLER Jack | 43 | AUS | 16 | LCR Honda |
| 19 | HAYDEN Nicky | 69 | USA | 13 | Aspar MotoGP Team |
| 20 | BRADL Stefan | 6 | GER | 11 | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini |
| 21 | LAVERTY Eugene | 50 | IRE | 9 | Aspar MotoGP Team |
| 22 | PIRRO Michele | 51 | ITA | 8 | Ducati Team |
| 23 | DI MEGLIO Mike | 63 | FRA | 7 | Avintia Racing |
| 24 | AOYAMA Hiroshi | 7 | JPN | 5 | AB Motoracing |
| 25 | DE ANGELIS Alex | 15 | RSM | 2 | Athina Forward Racing |
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