Aleix Espargaró had set itself this season to never fall out of the top 10 at the finish of each Grand Prix. A mission held until Jerez where he was pushed around by Jack Miller who kept him in his business. But at Le Mans, nothing is to blame except an RS-GP far from the mark…
The Noale firm was able to hope at the start of the campaign to be able to keep KTM, but the fifth meeting of the 2019 calendar marked the end of this illusion for the Italians towards the Austrians. Starting from a decent ninth place, Aleix Espargaro then realized that racing the Bugatti was not going to be fun. The 29-year-old driver was certainly in the Top 10 at the start of the hostilities, but the more the laps passed, the more the Catalan let go. By the halfway point, hopes for Aprilia were reduced to 13th place. At the finish, it was the four points of the twelfth which were finally taken.
For the teammate of a Iannone who threw in the towel and lost half a minute to the winner Marc Márquez, the account was not there: “Bringing home points is always positive, but I can't be satisfied. I couldn't follow the leaders, especially because of the lack of grip which is so important on a track with these characteristics. There was really only one tire choice possible with these low temperatures. In fact, we were all in the same conditions. Now we have to work hard to progress. Our opponents have improved and it is more and more difficult to finish in the top ten.”
Aleix Espargaró gained a place at the finish due to the fall of Nakagami. He then needed 14 seconds to reach his compatriot Jorge Lorenzo on the official Honda. The Italian teammate ofI will espargaro, Andrea Iannone, abandoned the race very early and therefore did not help the Aprilia team much with the development of the RS-GP. The brother of Pol, hero of KTM, is thirteenth in the championship with 22 points. He scored four times in five attempts in 2019. Next up at Mugello, Italy, home of Aprilia…
French Grand Prix Le Mans MotoGP J3: classification
| 1 | 93 | Marc MÁRQUEZ | Honda | 41'53.647 |
| 2 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | +1.984 |
| 3 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | +2.142 |
| 4 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | +2.940 |
| 5 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +3.053 |
| 6 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARÓ | KTM | +5.935 |
| 7 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | Yamaha | +7.187 |
| 8 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | +8.439 |
| 9 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | +9.853 |
| 10 | 42 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | +13.709 |
| 11 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Honda | +15.003 |
| 12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARÓ | Aprilia | +29.512 |
| 13 | 5 | johann zarco | KTM | +33.061 |
| 14 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | KTM | +35.481 |
| 15 | 88 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | +36.044 |
| 16 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | 1 laps |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 9 lapses | |
| 29 | Andrea Iannone | Aprilia | 19 lapses | |
| 12 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 21 lapses | |
| 63 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 21 lapses | |
| 53 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | 25 lapses | |
| Excluded | ||||
| 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 0 laps |
