**”Aprilia’s Aragon Agony: Espargaro and Vinales Struggle in ‘Embarrassing’ MotoGP Weekend”**

Disastrous Aprilia Weekend, Humiliating Performance at Aragon MotoGP

Aleix Espargaro ended up trailing 40 seconds behind Marc Marquez in what he described as an 'embarrassing' race, while Maverick Vinales had to withdraw halfway through the event.

Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales ended Friday's MotoGP practice session at Aragon with times that placed them just behind Marc Marquez.

Nevertheless, the heavy rain that fell overnight on both Friday and Saturday left them struggling.

At first, the significant gaps of 2.9 seconds for Espargaro and 3.7 seconds for Vinales behind Marquez's pole position time in qualifying seemed like an unusual incident.

The gap was evident in the Sprint race, as Vinales ended up in 19th place, at the back of the pack, trailing Marquez by 37.6 seconds overall, which equates to 3.4 seconds per lap.

Espargaro's race ended at Turn 1 after experiencing wheelspin on the grid's dirty side, causing him to collide with the rear of Fabio di Giannantonio.

In what was his final Aragon race prior to retiring, Espargaro managed to finish on Sunday but ended up 40.6 seconds behind Marquez, which he described as "embarrassing," and secured tenth place.

"I gave it my all, but nothing seemed to be effective, and we ended up more than 40 seconds behind the winner, which is quite humiliating," Espargaro commented. "Once more, I struggled to stay on the bike, but at least we secured a top ten finish and earned some points."

Espargaro explained that they couldn't get the tires to function properly. He said his main concern was preventing a crash rather than optimizing performance, and it was challenging even to touch his knee to the ground.

"I wasn't able to tilt the bike during turns. This was an unfamiliar and challenging experience for us, and it's difficult to come to terms with it. We have to understand what went wrong."

Vinales faced even greater challenges, as he fell to the last position right at the start of Sunday's race. He stayed there, with the exception of Luca Marini who began from the pit lane, until he retired shortly before reaching the halfway point of the race.

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

“We struggled to make the tyres function properly. It felt like I was on the verge of crashing at every corner, particularly with the rear tyre,” Vinales remarked.

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

Struggling with the tires on a challenging track – Marquez’s race-winning time was 12 seconds slower than Enea Bastianini's from two years prior – appeared to echo past issues Aprilia has faced when using slick tires in wet conditions. "It was a terrible weekend," stated team principal Massimo Rivola. "On Friday, we were quick despite low grip, but then we lost our direction and ended up around four seconds slower than our best times."

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

Trackhouse racer Miguel Oliveira, who finished fifth in the Sprint, had an early exit in the grand prix after crashing on the first lap, while his teammate Raul Fernandez ended up 16th due to a penalty for tire pressure.

“Today was extremely challenging,” Fernandez commented. “I’m not entirely sure what went wrong. Yesterday, I managed three laps with relatively decent traction before experiencing significant tyre graining. However, today, I couldn’t get any grip at all.”

"I couldn't get a good hold on the track; it felt like I was racing on ice the entire time, which led to numerous errors on my part."

"It was one of the toughest races I've ever experienced… The bright side is that all of us on the Aprilia team are encountering the same challenges. With four riders providing feedback, we can collaborate to figure out a solution."

A positive development for Aprilia is that the upcoming Misano race, taking place this weekend on their home turf, is expected to provide significantly better traction.

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