Aleix Espargaró and his Aprilia were the sensation of the first two days of testing in Qatar. For the second salvo of three, the driver of the new RS-GP does not seem to decide to come down from his cloud since he is still at the forefront. A performance all the more remarkable given that between technical problems and a fall, nothing was easy for the men of Noale on this Wednesday...
Aleix Espargaró et Aprilia don't give up on Losail. Third absolute on this track near Doha last weekend, including a better time on Saturday, the Spaniard equipped with the Italian once again showed himself to the front of the stage during a Wednesday which began the last three days devoted to the offseason of MotoGP.
And yet, the day was not memorable: “ at the beginning we had a technical problem and I couldn't ride much “, said Aleix. “ When we put a new rear tire on, I immediately set a low time of 1'54, but I crashed on my second lap at turn 4. It was a difficult day, we didn't work well, I'm not happy. We weren't able to complete our program and I wasn't able to try everything I wanted. I only did 31 laps ". To compare, Maverick Vinales, the most hardworking, accomplished 77…
Aleix Espargaró expects laps in 1'52.
« Therefore, finishing sixth on a day like this is very important », underlined the eldest of the brothers I will espargaro. " At the highest level of this competition, you can be proud of such a result. I wanted to try a few things with the geometry so the bike could turn better, especially in turn 1. In this regard, however, we didn't improve. I was one of the first drivers on the track at 15 p.m., then technology slowed me down until 18 p.m. ».
In 2020, there were regular complaints about the rear tires of Michelin , but the French production equipment manufacturer has taken a different path for the coming season. “ Softest rear tire no longer available ", has explained I will espargaro. " The soft tire is now last year's medium. And yet, on Wednesday, six drivers drove in less than 1'54: we are flying! ».
He finishes : " On Thursday we will see the first race simulations. I'm sure there will be some very quick ones. The handling isn't fantastic, but it's not bad either. Lap times are very, very fast. We may see the first lap of 1'52 in Qatar on Thursday, the weather forecast is not bad ».
MotoGP Test Qatar 2 J1: times
