This is a decisive week for Aprilia's MotoGP project. On Thursday, in fact, the brand should finally know if it can keep Andrea Iannone in the workforce or urgently look for a replacement. With an Andrea Dovizioso to hire, the sports boss Massimo rivola will also try to make itself heard by the leaders of Piaggio for an extension of the budget which would allow it to present a decent proposal to the future ex-Ducati. In the meantime, we must draw conclusions from the last French Grand Prix, and the only current driver, Aleix Espargaró, is quite bitter…
When the rain comes into a race, the last ones often rejoice because they see it as an opportunity to get back on top. But at Aprilia, this charm does not work. So, for Aleix Espargaró, the shower didn't change anything. His teammate Bradley Smith However, seemed to move like a fish in water, which he had already shown in the same conditions during free trials. Unfortunately, he ended up falling, so that the Englishman was unable to bring the contradiction to his leader, who was quite critical of his employers...
The Spaniard commented: “ it was a disappointing weekend as we completely lacked grip ", said I will espargaro. " At the start of the race, when it was very wet, it still suited me because I had a good start. I was able to follow the first eight ". But the improvement did not last… “ After ten laps the track became drier and my opponents found more grip, but that wasn't the case for me. I had to drive carefully to avoid a crash and that's why we are far behind the desired result ».
“We never have traction”
The factory driver Aprilia for the fourth season was with soft tires. “ Whether it's hot or cold, we always use the same tire composition, but we never have grip », admitted Aleix disappointedly. “ We are working on various things to resolve our issues, which are likely chassis related. The lower the temperature, the more problems we have. But it was important that I could finish the race on Sunday ».
It did not escape the eldest I will espargaro that the cadet Pol was doing better with a KTM which he placed on the podium at Le Mans: “ I give him all my heart because I know how hard he works and I know how much he struggled at the start of the season. Of course I would like to be able to fight for podium places with him and after our winter testing I also had the feeling that it should be possible... We should take KTM as a model » concludes Aleix who has already signed for 2021 with Aprilia...
MotoGP Le Mans France J3: classification
Championship:
