Analyzes – GP of Aragon – Espargaro (6th): “I don’t want to have any illusions with this result” –

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GP of Aragon – Espargaro (6th): "I don’t want to have any illusions with this result"

Analyzes - GP of Aragon - Espargaro (6th):

Aleix Espargaro, sixth in the 2018 Aragon Grand Prix, signs his best result of the season on the Aprilia of the Gresini team. The Spaniard, although delighted with his performance, nevertheless continues to demand significant progress on the RS-GP… Debriefing.

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia-Gresini (13th in qualifying and 6th in race) : "The first five laps were the key to the race. After a good start, I managed to stay very fast, in order to follow Pedrosa and the leading group. Then I attacked less because I knew I had to manage tire wear to tackle the final laps ".

"This is an important result for everyone. I’m working harder than ever trying to stay hyper motivated. The team and the guys from Aprilia to Noale are also working tirelessly, but it’s not an easy process. … Now, I don’t want to have any illusions with this result, especially since Aragón is perhaps the circuit where I feel the best. But it definitely boosts confidence! "

"I have changed my way of working, both in the way I manage the weekend, to focus my efforts on the race and on the RS-GP set-up. However, we are still not satisfied: we must be faster, everywhere and more easily. We must therefore continue to put in great effort ".

  • GP of Aragon : 
  • GP Aragon MotoGP 2018 : 
  • MNC special file : 

Site analysis: What a pleasure to see Aleix Espargaro – and Aprilia – again in contact with the leaders, him whose best result this year was his ninth place in the French GP. Sixth place in Aragon boosts his points balance from 19 to 29 in a single race !

Analyzes - GP of Aragon - Espargaro (6th):

The opportunity to see that riders and motorcycles usually more behind stood out on Sunday: in addition to the RS-GP of Espargaro, let us quote the Suzuki which brilliantly illustrated behind Dovizioso and Marquez. Dani Pedrosa, fifth ahead of Espargaro, is also back to a position consistent with his status.

The difficulties encountered by Yamaha are not totally unrelated to this: several of the riders mentioned above would undoubtedly not appear so well classified if Rossi, Viñales and Zarco were able to express all their talent. But only the result on the finish line counts !

Certainly delighted with his fine 6th place, Aleix Espargaro also keeps his boots on the ground: to the result obtained, the native of Granollers (Spain) opposes the path that Aprilia still has to take to regularly repeat such a performance. His RS-GP is still too slow and difficult to lead over the duration of a race for his liking…

Analyzes - GP of Aragon - Espargaro (6th):

Contrary to what one might have hoped, Noale’s coat of arms has therefore not taken a decisive step, despite several changes of chassis and engine. The performance of n ° 41 could be explained above all by its own ease in Aragon, a selective circuit because it is technical and fast. A bit like Phillip Island (Australia), where the particular profile of the track levels out technical differences in favor of thrilling races.

Aprilia does not progress, even gives way to the leaders…

Unfortunately, if we study the data carefully, it is clear that this half-hearted record of Aleix Espargaro is relevant: Aragon is indeed smiling at the Aprilia rider, who had already achieved his best result last year! By a strange coincidence, he also finished sixth – like in Qatar, by the way..

Analyzes - GP of Aragon - Espargaro (6th):

But the truly worrying criterion is the gap between the winner and Aleix Espargaro, which has increased significantly between 2017 and 2018: from 6.962 sec last year, this gap climbs to 9.396 sec! However, the race pace was faster this year: Marquez, winner of both editions, completed the Grand Prix of Aragon in 41’55.949 against 42’06.816 in 2017.

In other words, if we look only at the figures, Aprilia has not improved its performance – on the contrary, even – while its rivals have found a way to go faster … What to explain the Perceptible bitterness in the statements of the representative of the Gresini team, currently 17th in the provisional.

Analyzes - GP of Aragon - Espargaro (6th):

Note that the future former teammate of Aleix Espargaro, Scott Redding (above), continues to look for a fallback plan for the next season. The Briton, 16th at 39.585 sec from the winner, will give way to Iannone in 2019. His tracks revolve mainly around Moto2, as well as World (WSBK) or British (BSB) Superbike..    

Besides Scott Redding, remember that Thomas Luthi (Honda Marc-VDS), Xavier Simeon (Ducati-Avintia), Alvaro Bautista (Ducati-Aspar), Dani Pedrosa and Bradley Smith (KTM) lose their handlebars in MotoGP. The last two mentioned will respectively bounce back in 2019 as test riders at KTM and Aprilia, while Luthi returns to Moto2.

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