He had said it at the end of qualifying which had put him on the fourth block of the starting grid: for the Sunday race, he was going to set the stage on fire. Aleix Espargao kept his word. But literally...
The teammate of Maverick Vinales wanted to mark the occasion in this Grand Prix of the Czech Republic announced by the driver as the start of a series of top 6 until the end of the season. An ambitious program which was ready to come to fruition in the rain of Brno. But now, the Suzuki has decided otherwise: “ This year, I struggled in the rain, but during the warm-up, we found something with the electronics and the rear part of the bike. What gave us grip ».
A discovery that he took advantage of during the 14 of the 22 laps of the race to be a constant threat for Marc Márquez. Alas, with eight laps to go… “ I felt good, I was fighting with the leading men, but already at the start, the engine was making strange things and noises. Then the engine braking increased and at one point I no longer had any power. I then realized that it had caught fire so I hurried to stop! We need to understand what happened ».
A spectacular breakage which is an exception at Suzuki: “ We encountered engine problems at the very beginning of last year and then everything was perfect throughout last season. Until then, we had never encountered such a problem. It's the first engine that breaks. This happens in competition. It's a shame because I was well behind Márquez and I was paying attention to my tires. But I couldn't do the last eight laps! »
It should be noted that his teammate encountered the problem of the tread torn off the Michelin front soft tire, also chosen by Aleix, at the end of the race. “ I can't believe what's happening to me this year. At each Grand Prix something different happens. I can never do a normal run. Now all I want is to fight for the podium until Valencia ». Aleix Espargaró pilot also with the fingers of one hand badly damaged. In fact, he will not participate in the tests scheduled for Monday in Brno.
