Aprilia’s Aragon Agony: Espargaro and Vinales Suffer ‘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 drops out halfway through the race.

Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales concluded Friday's MotoGP practice session at Aragon with times that were second only to Marc Marquez.

The rain that fell overnight on both Friday and Saturday left them struggling.

At first glance, it appeared unusual that Espargaro and Vinales were 2.9 seconds and 3.7 seconds slower, respectively, than Marquez's pole position time in the qualifying rounds.

However, the shortfall was evident during the Sprint race, where Vinales ended up in 19th place, at the back of the pack, trailing Marquez by 37.6 seconds, which translates to 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 hitting the rear of Fabio di Giannantonio.

Participating in his final Aragon race prior to retiring, Espargaro managed to finish on Sunday but found himself a "humiliating" 40.6 seconds behind Marquez, placing tenth.

"I put in my best effort, but nothing seemed to work, and we ended up finishing over 40 seconds behind the winner, which is quite humiliating," Espargaro remarked. "Once more, I nearly couldn't maintain control of the bike, but at least we secured a top ten finish and earned some points."

Espargaro admitted that they couldn't get the tires to function properly. He explained that his main concern was preventing crashes rather than optimizing performance. He added that it was so challenging that he struggled to get his knee to touch the ground.

“I wasn’t able to lean the bike into the turns. This was an unusual and unfamiliar scenario for us, and it's difficult to come to terms with. We have to understand what went wrong.”

Vinales experienced an even tougher time, falling immediately to the rear of the pack during the first lap on Sunday. He stayed there, with the exception of Luca Marini who began the race from the pit lane, until he withdrew shortly 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 to get the tires to perform properly. It felt like I was on the verge of crashing at every corner, particularly with the rear tire," Vinales stated.

“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 tyres to perform on a difficult track – Marquez's race-winning time was 12 seconds slower than Enea Bastianini's from two years prior – appeared to mirror past issues Aprilia has faced when using slick tyres on wet surfaces. "A terrible weekend," said team principal Massimo Rivola. "On Friday, we were quick despite low grip, but then we lost our trajectory, finishing around four seconds slower than our best times."

“This disappointing result should inspire us to keep working on our analysis and development as we prepare for the next races, beginning with Misano.”

Trackhouse racer Miguel Oliveira, who finished fifth in the Sprint, unfortunately crashed during the first lap of the grand prix. Meanwhile, his teammate Raul Fernandez ended up in 16th place due to a penalty for tyre pressure.

"Today was extremely challenging," Fernandez remarked. "I'm not quite sure what went wrong. Yesterday, I managed three laps with decent traction before experiencing significant tyre graining. However, today, I had no grip at all."

"I struggled to maintain traction and it felt like I was racing on an icy surface the entire time, which led to numerous errors."

"That race ranks among the toughest I've ever experienced… The silver lining is that everyone in the Aprilia team is dealing with the same challenges. With four riders providing feedback, we can collaborate effectively to chart a path forward."

Another positive update for Aprilia is that the upcoming Misano event, held on their home turf, is expected to provide significantly better traction.

Explore Further

Recent Updates

Recent Updates

Website Navigation

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

It is prohibited to fully or partially reproduce text, images, or drawings in any manner.