Aprilia Aims to Overcome ‘Shocking’ Ducati Deficit in Aragon MotoGP: Espargaro Seeks Solutions to Tyre Woes

Title: Aprilia Aims to Close Ducati Gap at Aragon MotoGP

Quote: "We still can't figure out why our tyres wear out so quickly."

Aleix Espargaro describes Aprilia's gap compared to Ducati throughout a grand prix distance in the 2024 MotoGP season as "shocking".

Following a promising beginning to the season, highlighted by Maverick Vinales clinching victory at the Americas Grand Prix, Aprilia has encountered difficulties in securing solid finishes in the races held on Sundays.

The RS-GP continues to perform well during qualifying and frequently secures podium finishes in sprint races, with Espargaro having placed third in the last two Saturday events.

Throughout a grand prix, the Aprilia bike has difficulty maintaining the condition of its rear tire compared to the Ducati, causing it to fall behind in Sunday races.

In Austria, the leading Aprilia was 21.206 seconds behind the race winner, whereas in Britain, it trailed by 9.514 seconds.

The Aragon Grand Prix this weekend offers Aprilia a solid chance to contend for a podium finish, as the team has historically performed well at this track, even during the seasons when their RS-GP bike was less competitive.

During MotoGP's most recent race at Aragon, Espargaro finished in third place, following Francesco Bagnaia and the victor of the race, Enea Bastianini.

Despite recognizing the possibility of a positive outcome, he mentioned that the aspect which was Aprilia's strength in the 2022 Aragon GP has now become its biggest challenge.

When questioned on Thursday at Aragon about Aprilia's prospects for the weekend, he expressed his desire to be optimistic but admitted he lacked sufficient reasons to be.

"We're putting in a lot of effort. In our previous race here, our strength was the latter half, but this year, we're struggling to figure out why our tires are wearing out more in that part of the race, and we're actively working on it."

"It's astonishing how Ducati manages to maintain such high speeds in the latter half of the race, whereas we struggle to do the same."

“We perform well during qualifying and the sprint, but we fall short in the final laps of the Sunday race. Hopefully, we can figure out what’s going wrong this weekend.”

Espargaro said, "I hope we can compete for a podium on Sunday as well."

"I will do my utmost. In the previous two sprints, we competed fiercely and secured a spot on the podium."

“We're aiming to achieve a similar performance here. We are confident in our speed with the soft tire, but it’s crucial for both me and the team to identify what we’re lacking for the race on Sunday.”

"It's quite surprising to start Sunday with the same speed as the leaders and then end up finishing the race 10 seconds behind them."

"We need to put in a lot of effort and grasp the reasons behind it. However, this represents a great chance. This circuit suits both Aprilia and me well."

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