Reigning WorldSSP300 Champion Ana Carrasco will begin her first title defence in fine style at her home circuit of Motorland Aragon this weekend.
The Spaniard is looking to make more history and become the first rider ever to win back-to-back WorldSSP300 titles, as well as looking to become the first female solo rider to do so.
Carrasco has yet to achieve a podium placing at MotorLand Aragon, so whatever the result after the opening race, the championship looks set to come alive.
“It has been one of the busiest winters of my life, we have made many changes at the sports level as well as at a personal level and I’m very eager to start the season to see the results of all this," said Carrasco.
"Although I’ve had to do a lot of media work these months, I’ve also been able to work a lot on the motorcycle and I think that I’m ready for the first race.
"I’m very happy with all my team, with the work we’ve carried out during the pre-season tests and I’m very excited and keen to have a good season and will be able to return all the effort over these months to the team via good results and to give my best this year.
"Pre-season testing has gone quite well, I was able to ride a lot. We’re preparing much better than in the past. My feelings are good, we’ve been fast in every circuit and improving our pace from last year, so I’d say we’re fairly ready for the first race.
“I’m really excited to get the season going. The off-season has felt too long, so many months without a race. We’ve been working hard since January and there have been a lot of changes, we’re excited to finally get to the first race and see where we stand.
Of course we’re the champions and the goal is to remain on top, but we all start from scratch now. We won last year, that doesn’t mean we’ll win again this year. We need to focus on working well, score in every race and then we’ll see where we are at the end."
Tough opposition comes in the form of Marc Garcia (DS Junior Team), who returns to the 2019 line-up, looking to take back his crown he earned in 2017. Garcia failed to finish in Aragon in 2017 so will be looking to start his season strongly.
Previous race winners at MotorLand Aragon, Scott Deroue (Kawasaki MOTOPORT) in 2017 and Koen Meuffels (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) in 2018, will also be part of the battle again in Spain, with both showing great potential towards the close of 2018. Meuffels is hoping to give KTM a win in the class again, whilst Deroue will hope to head to the Netherlands a week later in fine form.
2018 championship runner-up Mika Perez (Scuderia Maranga Racing) will be hoping to improve his championship position this year and kick-start his title-tilt from MotorLand Aragon, where he has finished third for the past two seasons.
South African rider Dorren Loureiro (Nutec – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) had a strong end to 2018 and has been eighth in the past two seasons at MotorLand Aragon, making him a protagonist at the sharp end.
Popular Indonesian rider Galang Hendra Pratama (Semakin Di Depan Biblion Motoxracing) is leading the Yamaha charge and looking to secure a third class-victory in as many seasons. MotorLand Aragon will be a test for the 20-year-old, as he has never scored points at the venue before.
Other notable names include Borja Sanchez (Scuderia Maranga Racing), who is without a win in his WorldSSP300 career but has gathered three podiums. Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) also comes into the season as one of the potential front-runners, having ended his 2018 campaign with three third-places.
