Aleix Espargaró faced a difficult day at Portimao, finishing only fourteenth. The usually faster Aprilia rider was far behind in FP1, placing twentieth, while teammate Maverick Viñales moved up to second. The afternoon did not bring any significant improvement, with Espargaró finishing fourteenth and also experiencing a crash. Despite these setbacks, Espargaró kept his sense of humor but also criticism.
Aleix Espargaró first commented on his day with humorous lightness: “ I feel more like a cyclist who rides a motorcycle on the weekend for fun. This Friday was definitely not my day. Other than that, I have to admit that my performance was not the best. I was constantly falling behind, finding grip too late, and eventually, I fell. Afterwards, it was a rush with the second bike and Morbidelli's yellow flag. It felt like everything was stacked against me. But I remain confident for Saturday, hoping to be a little more in the game"
Confident for Q2, Aleix Espargaró remains optimistic: I'm not really worried, I know I'll be quick. We were very fast here last year. My only regret is that I didn't qualify well last year; I hope to rectify that on Saturday. I put myself in a difficult situation, but the weekend is far from over. There are always fast drivers, that's what makes this championship so demanding and everything depends on the thousandth. One fall, and everything can change"
Aleix Espargaró: “ it's 2024, there must be a technological solution to clean the track effectively »
Regarding the track conditions, the Aprilia official noted: “ the grip was really weird. It was strange to see everyone opting for the medium with the soft at the front, instead of the usual hard. No one seemed to find any grip, hence the numerous falls. A pretty useless Friday, in my opinion."
He also criticized the state of the circuit: “ the track was really dirty. We cannot send the premier class of the world onto a track covered in dust. It’s 2024; there must be a technological solution to clean the track effectively. I remember in our first races in America they used airplane turbines to dry the tracks in ten minutes. It's time to apply similar technology here " propose Aleix Espargaro.
The latter, on Thursday, had subjected Michelin his wrath about his tires from Qatar, implying that the manufacturer had not given him any response on the subject, which the bibendum brilliantly denied by returning it to the Aprilia box. This time, it was the organizers who were right about the state of their Portimao track…
MotoGP Portugal J1: classification
Credit classification motogp.com
