If this Austrian Grand Prix was not strictly speaking a setback for the Aprilia factory and its rider Aleix Espargaró, at the very least, it is identified as a brutal return to earth. It's nothing to say that Massimo Rivola and his troop, like his drivers, including Maverick Viñales, second in the last meeting at Silverstone, were stunned after this race in Styria. A sixth and a thirteenth place would have been appreciated last year, but not this season when we are playing for the title. The blow to the head will perhaps put the ideas back in place for the next deadline in Misano…
The start of this thirteenth meeting of the season at the Red Bull Ring revealed that nothing would be easy for Aprilia in Austria and the trend was confirmed until the finish of the race. In summary, ground has still been conceded on a fabio quartararo that we had perhaps too quickly considered to be in dire straits... The boss Massimo rivola, who brought Fernando Alonso into a box where an RS-GP had found the war paint of the first world title 30 years ago, hoped for much more. And he made no secret of it when it came time to take stock: “ we completely screwed up the tire choice ", he said angrily in an interview with speedweek. " We knew there would be a risk with the soft rear tire, but we didn't expect the grip to drop so much. The “degradation” was too great ».
« It's our fault, the team's fault. What Aleix showed was probably some of the best racing he has ever driven. The rear wheel of his motorcycle even slipped in the final straight. In the drivers' championship we were able to limit the damage because we had a bit of luck as Aleix gained two places after the crash of Jorge Martin and the retirement of Enea Bastianini he said.
Aprilia: “ If we don't offer our drivers the best conditions for the race, we haven't done a good job.«
« It's true that Spielberg has always been a difficult track for Aprilia ", added Rivola. " But if we don't offer our drivers the best conditions for the race, it's disappointing. Because it means we didn't do a good job ". For his part, Aleix Espargaró do not add more, on the contrary: “ although the result might suggest otherwise, I am very satisfied with my performance. We knew that on certain tracks we would encounter difficulties, but in a long championship like this you must not lose your head. It's important to always achieve the best possible result and honestly, we couldn't have done more. Our bike suffers on this stop-and-go track, it's a track with unique characteristics so Sundays will arrive where we can return to our level ».
« We lost points in the championship, it's true and I'm sorry about that. In any case, I am proud of the performance because we brought back the best possible result » finishes the Spaniard. For his part, Maverick Vinales who will have to wait to make history as the only MotoGP rider to have competed with three different brands added: “ in the first laps I had fun and recovered, then unfortunately the rear tire had a very significant dropout. We chose the wrong option and paid for it, but at the same time, we learned a lot. I was able to improve my braking throughout the weekend, these are positive aspects that we will also bring to the next races. We weren't used to it these last few weekends but it's also true that sometimes we can struggle! ».
MotoGP Austria J3: classification
Credit classification motogp.com
