Things have changed at Aprilia and this can be felt in the speech of RS-GP rider Aleix Espargaró. The latter no longer even notices the fact that he easily found himself in Q2, something unthinkable a year ago. Qualified eighth, he should also be satisfied, but with this RS-GP, he already saw himself higher. He still has the race to set in stone with a significant result this decisive evolution of the Noale brand's MotoGP project.
Aleix Espargaró honorably concluded this Saturday in Qatar with an eighth place acquired on the starting grid for the inaugural Grand Prix of the season. It also fell in FP3, Without gravity. Despite a deficit in top speed of around 20 km/h on the Ducati of the poleman bagnaia, he only returned half a second against the clock, showing that his RS-GP had other qualities.
« I'm disappointed with the result because I expected we could fight for at least the second row “, declared the 31-year-old pilot. “ I gave it my all, on the last lap I rolled my bike and in six corners I almost lost the front wheel. We are less than two tenths from second place ».
The performance difference betweenAprilia and Ducati is particularly disturbing for him. Johann zarco set a new speed record of 362,4 km / h in FP4. “ I'm in the top 3 in the second and third sectors, but I'm losing too much time in the last sector. It is very difficult to fight with the Ducatis “, he admits and adds: “ there are also three Yamahas in front of us. But we are ahead of Suzuki, Honda and KTM, so we have done a good job. I am satisfied with our performance, we are not far away ».
« I really enjoyed driving the fast laps in Q2, it was a lot of fun. We expected to be a tenth or two faster, but I couldn't go any faster in the corners because I was very often on the verge of falling », underlined the eldest of the two brothers I will espargaro.
Aleix Espargaró will bet on soft tires
For the race, he says: “ usually we have a big group in the Qatar race, but I'm not sure this time “, declared the Spaniard. “ It is clear that the Ducati riders will lead the race at the start, because they cannot be stopped, the engine power is incredible. Halfway through the race, the first drivers with tire problems will fall behind, but we will have to wait and see. I will drive with soft tires front and rear ».
« Ducati can do over 360km/h on the straight, I've never seen that before “, emphasizes Espargaró: “ unfortunately we are almost 20 km/h slower. The wind is expected to increase significantly on Sunday, especially when it gets dark. The problem is that the wind is changing and you are surprised, so we have to see how it will be ».
MotoGP Qatar 1 J2: times
Credit rankings: MotoGP.com
