By securing sixth place on Sunday in Aragon, Aleix equaled his best result previously obtained in Qatar with the RS-GP. He finished 6.9 behind the winner Marc Marquez, and only 1.7 behind the Yamaha of Maverick Vinales and 1.1 behind that of Valentino Rossi. He even finished ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, who was fighting for the title with Marquez.
Aleix therefore achieved a great feat on his favorite playground, where he took his only podium in MotoGP so far with second place in 2014 on a Forward Racing Yamaha.
« I think we showed a good improvement this season, compared to where Aprilia was last season », estimated Aleix. And precisely, where was Aprilia in Aragon in 2016? Alvaro Bautista finished ninth, 23 seconds behind the winner Marc Marquez, right in front of his teammate Stefan bradl tenth at 27 seconds.
“It is still difficult to fight for the podium with Yamaha and Honda, but we have to be very close behind them every weekend and when they have problems, like today with Dovizioso, we are in front of them. That's the target.
“I give 100% every year, but this project with Aprilia is something more for me. It's something personal, and I will continue to work very hard to put the bike on the podium.
“I think if we can improve the engine a little bit, next year is going to be a lot of fun for us. »
Espargaro, who has also raced on Ducati, Yamaha and Suzuki, said the RS-GP chassis is the best he has ever raced on.
“I don't know if the RS-GP frame is one of the best on the grid, but it's the best I've ever driven. It suits my driving style well. When entering the corners, I can maintain incredible speed. Super fast! I have a lot of feeling with the front tire and it's the best thing for me.
“So we have to improve the engine. Engineers know this. The bike needs to lose weight and the engine needs to be improved, because Aprilia and I will have a great opportunity to fight for very important results next season. »
Photos © Gresini Aprilia Team and Aleix Espargaro personally
Source: crash.net
