Aprilia Struggles in ‘Embarrassing’ Aragon MotoGP Weekend: Espargaro and Vinales Falter Amidst Tyre Woes

Disastrous Weekend for Aprilia, Disappointing Aragon MotoGP Performance

Aleix Espargaro ends the race trailing Marc Marquez by a staggering 40 seconds, while Maverick Vinales withdraws halfway through the event.

Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales concluded the MotoGP practice session on Friday at Aragon, placing just behind Marc Marquez in terms of fastest times.

Nonetheless, the heavy overnight rain on both Friday and Saturday nights caused them significant difficulties.

Initially, Espargaro being 2.9 seconds and Vinales being 3.7 seconds slower than Marquez's pole position time in qualifying seemed like an unusual event.

The gap was evident during the Sprint race, as Vinales ended up in 19th place, which was last, trailing Marquez by 37.6 seconds, averaging 3.4 seconds per lap.

Espargaro, on the other hand, couldn't make it past the first turn. He experienced wheelspin due to starting on the less clean side of the grid and ended up making contact with the rear of Fabio di Giannantonio's bike.

In his final Aragon race before retiring, Espargaro managed to finish on Sunday but was a disappointing 40.6 seconds behind Marquez, placing tenth.

"I gave it my all, but nothing seemed to work, and we ended up more than 40 seconds behind the winner, which is quite humiliating," Espargaro remarked. "Once more, I could barely stay on the bike, but at least we finished in the top ten and earned some points."

Espargaro admitted that they couldn't get the tires to function properly. He mentioned that his main concern was preventing a crash rather than pushing for better performance. He also noted that it was challenging just to get his knee to touch the ground.

"I wasn't able to tilt the bike while turning. It was an unusual and challenging experience for us, and it's difficult to come to terms with. We have to understand what went wrong."

Vinales faced an even tougher situation as he fell to the last position on the first lap of Sunday’s race. He stayed there, with the exception of Luca Marini who started from the pit lane, until he withdrew from the race just before reaching the halfway point.

The fastest lap of the winner at COTA was 2.7 seconds slower than Marquez's best lap.

"We struggled with the tyres, and it felt like I was about to lose control at every corner, particularly with the rear tyre," Vinales commented.

"The weekend proved challenging for both Aprilia and myself. Despite a strong showing on Friday, everything seemed to fall apart afterwards."

The challenge of getting the tires to perform well on a difficult track surface – with Marquez’s race time being 12 seconds slower than Enea Bastianini's from two years prior – seemed to echo past issues Aprilia has faced when using slick tires in wet conditions. "It was a terrible weekend," said team principal Massimo Rivola. "On Friday, we were quick despite low grip, but then we lost our direction, finishing around four seconds slower than our best times."

"This poor showing should drive us to persist with our analysis and development efforts as we look ahead to the next races, beginning with Misano."

Trackhouse racer Miguel Oliveira, who finished fifth in the Sprint, had an accident and crashed on the first lap of the grand prix. His team-mate, Raul Fernandez, ended up in 16th place due to a penalty for tyre pressure.

“Today was extremely challenging,” Fernandez remarked. “I’m not entirely sure what went wrong. Yesterday, I managed to get three laps with decent traction, but then I experienced significant tyre graining. However, today, I had no grip at all.”

"I had no control; it felt like I was racing on ice the entire time, leading to numerous errors."

"That race was among the toughest I've ever experienced… The silver lining is that all of us on the Aprilia team are encountering the same problems. With four riders each providing feedback, we can collaborate to find a solution."

The additional positive update for Aprilia is that the upcoming Misano round, which is their home event, is likely to provide significantly better traction.

Discover More

Recent Updates

Current Headlines

Website Map

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

It is prohibited to reproduce any part or the entirety of the text, photographs, or illustrations in any manner.