Aprilia’s Aragon Agony: Espargaro Embarrassed, Vinales Vanishes in Disastrous MotoGP Weekend

Disastrous Weekend for Aprilia, Disappointing Aragon MotoGP Race

Aleix Espargaro ended the race a staggering 40 seconds behind Marc Marquez, while Maverick Vinales did not finish, retiring halfway through.

Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales ended Friday's MotoGP practice session at Aragon just behind Marc Marquez in the rankings.

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

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

The shortfall was evident during 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, couldn't make it past the first turn because his wheel spun on the less clean side of the starting grid, causing him to hit the rear of Fabio di Giannantonio's bike.

In his final Aragon race before retiring, Espargaro managed to cross the finish line on Sunday, but he was a disappointing 40.6 seconds behind Marquez, finishing in tenth place.

"I gave it my all, but nothing seemed to go right, and we ended up over 40 seconds behind the winner, which is quite humiliating," Espargaro stated. "Once more, I could barely remain on the bike, but at least we secured a top ten finish and earned some points."

Espargaro admitted, "We couldn’t get the tires to function properly. My main concern was preventing a crash rather than achieving good performance. It was so challenging that I struggled to even touch my knee to the ground."

"I wasn't able to tilt the bike while turning. It was an unusual and difficult scenario for us to come to terms with. We need to understand what went wrong."

The situation was even more challenging for Vinales, who fell to the last position right at the start of Sunday’s race. He stayed there, with the exception of Luca Marini who started from the pit lane, until he exited the race shortly before reaching the halfway point.

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

"We struggled to make the tires function properly. It felt like I was on the verge of crashing at every corner, particularly with the rear tire," Vinales explained.

“The weekend proved challenging for both Aprilia and myself as, following a strong showing on Friday, everything seemed to fall apart.”

The struggle to get the tyres to perform on a challenging track led to Marquez's race time being 12 seconds slower than Enea Bastianini's from two years prior, echoing past issues Aprilia faced when using slicks in wet conditions. Team principal Massimo Rivola described it as “a horrible weekend,” noting that while they were quick on Friday with little grip, they eventually became about four seconds slower than their best times.

"This poor showing should drive us to persist in 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, was involved in a crash on the first lap of the grand prix. His teammate, Raul Fernandez, ended up in 16th place after receiving a penalty for tyre pressure.

“Today was extremely challenging,” Fernandez remarked. “I can't quite comprehend what went wrong. Yesterday, I managed to complete three laps with decent grip, but then the tires started to wear out significantly. However, today, I had no grip at all.”

"I struggled with traction throughout the entire race, feeling as if I were riding on ice, which led to numerous errors."

"That race was among the toughest I've ever experienced… The only upside is that everyone on the Aprilia team appears to be dealing with the same challenges. With four riders providing feedback, we have four times the input, allowing us to collaborate and find a solution."

Another piece of positive news for Aprilia is that the Misano round taking place this weekend, which is their home event, is expected to have significantly better traction.

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