Last Sunday in Japan, Aleix and Aprilia were disappointed with the seventh place under the checkered flag, although this result is one of the four best of the Italian manufacturer this year, with the two sixth places of Doha and Aragon, and the seventh in the Sachsenring.
But the disappointment was great because in the wet Espargaro had spent the first two days with the best at the top of the timing screens. A superb fourth place on the starting grid rewarded the efforts of the Spaniard and the Italians.
This qualifying result was the best of the season, and the fourth in a row on one of the top three rows. Everything seemed to be going well, still on a wet track on Sunday, but Aleix moved up to seventh on the timing line at the end of the first lap, and seventh at the end of the last. Compared for example to the two Suzukis which had doubled the RS-GP, as at Jorge Lorenzo who had come from behind, Espargaro could not be satisfied.
We're starting from scratch this week on the Phillip Island circuit, where during winter testing last February Aleix finished in tenth position, 0.8 behind leader Maverick Vinales – then on another planet – but only 0.1 behind Andrea Dovizioso seventh and Jorge Lorenzo eighth, and 0.003 behind the local hero Jack Miller ninth.
Philipp Island is often more a driver's circuit than a machine's. How has Espargaro performed there in the past? His best result in 125 was 17th place in 2005 (on Honda Seedorf RC3 – Tiempo Holidays). In 250, he finished 8th in 2008 (Aprilia Lotus), then in Moto2 13th in 2011 (Kalex Pons). In MotoGP curiously, he obtained his best performance during his first participation in this category, with 8th place in 2010 on a Ducati Pramac, replacing the injured Nicolo Canepa.
According to Alex Espargaro, who are " At the Phillip Island test earlier this year we were competitive and did a good job. I'm coming to Australia to repeat the good weekend we had in Motegi, perhaps with a different race result.
“The team and I are doing everything we can to finish the season well. We have three chances to bring home some satisfaction and we won't pass them up. »
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Marc MARQUEZ-Honda 244 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO-Ducati 233
3 Maverick VIÑALES-Yamaha 203
4 Dani PEDROSA-Honda 170
5 Valentino ROSSI-Yamaha 168
6 Johann ZARCO-Yamaha 125
7 Jorge LORENZO-Ducati 116
8 Danilo PETRUCCI-Ducati 111
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW-Honda 92
10 Jonas FOLGER-Yamaha 84
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA-Ducati 70
12 Aleix ESPARGARO-Aprilia 62
13 Jack MILLER-Honda 56
14 Scott REDDING-Ducati 56
15 Andrea IANNONE-Suzuki 50
16 Loris BAZ-Ducati 45
Manufacturers:
1 HONDA 294 points
2 DUCATI 273
3 YAMAHA 265
4 SUZUKI 77
5 APRILIA 64
6 KTM 51
Teams:
1 REPSOL HONDA TEAM 414 points
2 MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP 371
3 DUCATI TEAM 349
4 MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 209
5 OCTO PRAMAC RACING 167
6 PULL&BEAR ASPAR TEAM 98
7 LCR HONDA 92
8 TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 89
9 EG 0,0 MARC VDS 85
10 REALE AVINTIA RACING 70
11 APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI 67
12 RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 56
Photo © Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
