Moto GP
Aprilia’s Aragon Agony: Espargaro and Vinales Endure ‘Embarrassing’ MotoGP Weekend
Disastrous weekend for Aprilia, humiliating Aragon MotoGP race
Aleix Espargaro ends up trailing Marc Marquez by a staggering 40 seconds, while Maverick Vinales withdraws halfway through the race.
Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales concluded Friday's MotoGP practice session at Aragon, trailing just behind Marc Marquez in the rankings.
Despite the rain on both Friday and Saturday night, making everything muddy, they were struggling.
At first, it seemed unusual that Espargaro and Vinales were a massive 2.9 seconds and 3.7 seconds, respectively, behind Marquez's pole position time in qualifying.
However, this gap was evident in the Sprint race, with Vinales ending up in the 19th and final position, trailing Marquez by 37.6 seconds, which averages to 3.4 seconds per lap.
Espargaro, on the other hand, failed to make it past the first turn due to experiencing wheelspin on the less clean side of the starting grid, which led to him making contact with the rear of Fabio di Giannantonio's bike.
In his final Aragon race prior to retiring, Espargaro managed to finish but ended up in a "humiliating" tenth place, trailing 40.6 seconds behind Marquez.
"I put in my best effort, but nothing seemed to work, and we ended up more than 40 seconds behind the winner, which is quite humiliating," Espargaro stated. "Once more, I could barely manage to stay on the bike, but we did secure a top ten finish, so at least we earned some points."
Espargaro acknowledged that they struggled with the tires. He said he was more concerned with not crashing than with how well he was doing. He even found it hard to get his knee to touch the ground.
"I found it impossible to lean into the turns while riding the bike. This was an unusual and unfamiliar experience for us, making it difficult to come to terms with. We need to understand what went wrong."
Vinales' situation was even more dire, as he immediately fell to the very last position during the first lap on Sunday. He stayed there, only ahead 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 COTA winner was 2.7 seconds slower than that of Marquez.
"We struggled to get the tires to perform properly. It felt like I was on the verge of crashing at every corner, particularly because of the rear tire," Vinales stated.
"Aprilia and I faced a challenging weekend; despite a strong showing on Friday, everything fell apart afterward."
The struggle to get the tires to perform on a challenging track – with Marquez’s race time being 12 seconds slower than what Enea Bastianini achieved two years prior – appeared to mirror past issues Aprilia has faced when using slick tires in wet conditions. "A dreadful weekend," stated team boss Massimo Rivola. "On Friday, we were quick despite low grip, but then things fell apart, and we ended up about four seconds off our best times."
"This poor showing should inspire us to keep up our analysis and development efforts as we prepare for the next races, beginning with Misano."
Trackhouse racer Miguel Oliveira, who secured fifth place in the Sprint, unfortunately crashed during the first lap of the grand prix. His teammate, Raul Fernandez, ended up in 16th position after receiving a penalty for tyre pressure.
"Today was extremely challenging," Fernandez stated. "I can't quite grasp what went wrong. Yesterday, I managed to complete three laps with decent traction, but then the tires started experiencing significant wear. However, today, the situation was completely different, and I had no grip at all."
"I had no traction and it felt like I was racing on ice the entire time, causing me to make numerous errors."
“That race was among the toughest I’ve ever experienced… The silver lining is that all of us in Aprilia are encountering the same challenges. With four riders providing feedback, we can collaborate effectively to determine a way forward.”
Another positive update for Aprilia is that the upcoming Misano race this weekend is expected to provide significantly better traction.
Explore Further
Recent Updates
Recent Updates
Site Index
Crash.Net
©1999-2024 Crash Media Group
It is prohibited to reproduce the text, images, or drawings, either in full or in part, in any manner.
Discover more from Automobilnews News - The first AI News Portal world wide
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.