Aprilia’s Aragon Ambition: Overcoming the “Shocking” Ducati Deficit and the Mystery of the Disintegrating Tyres

Aprilia aims to overcome a surprising disadvantage against Ducati during the upcoming MotoGP race in Aragon.

"We're puzzled as to why our tyres wear out so quickly."

Aleix Espargaro has expressed astonishment at the significant gap between Aprilia and Ducati throughout a MotoGP race's duration in 2024.

Kicking off the season on a high note, Aprilia celebrated a win at the Americas Grand Prix thanks to Maverick Vinales, but has since faced challenges in achieving top finishes in Sunday races.

The RS-GP continues to perform well in qualifying sessions and consistently secures podium finishes in sprint races, with Espargaro achieving third place in the last two Saturday events.

Throughout a Grand Prix, Aprilia faces difficulties in maintaining its rear tire compared to Ducati, resulting in it falling behind during the races on Sunday.

In Austria, the leading Aprilia finished 21.206 seconds behind the race winner, whereas in Britain, it crossed the finish line 9.514 seconds later than the leader.

This weekend's Aragon Grand Prix offers Aprilia a promising chance to compete for a top-three finish. The team has historically performed well at this track with the RS-GP bike, even when it wasn't very competitive.

During MotoGP's most recent race at Aragon, Espargaro secured a third-place finish, trailing behind Francesco Bagnaia and the victor of the race, Enea Bastianini.

Yet, despite his optimism for a positive outcome, he pointed out that Aprilia's key strength during the 2022 Aragon GP has now become its main challenge.

"When questioned on Thursday at Aragon about Aprilia's chances for a good weekend, he expressed skepticism, noting, 'I wish I could be optimistic, but honestly, I don't see many reasons to be.'"

"Our team is putting in significant effort. During our previous competition at this location, our advantage was notably in the latter half of the race. However, this season, the reason behind this remains unclear to us. We're diligently analyzing why our tyres suffer greater wear in the race's second half."

"Ducati's ability to accelerate their pace in the latter half of the race is astonishing, something we just can't match."

"We're performing well in the qualifying rounds and sprints, but regrettably, we're falling short in the final laps of the Sunday race. We're optimistic that we'll gain some insights this weekend."

Espargaro also mentioned, "With some luck, we aim to contend for a podium position on Sunday as well."

"I'll give it everything I've got. In the previous two races, we battled hard and ended up securing a spot on the podium."

"We're optimistic that we can replicate our success here. It's clear that we have the speed when using the soft tyre, but it's crucial for both myself and the team to figure out what's lacking for the race on Sunday."

"It's quite surprising to start off on Sunday at the same speed as the leading competitors, only to end up 10 seconds off the pace by the race's conclusion."

"We must put in significant effort and grasp the reasons behind it. Indeed, this presents a favorable chance. It's a promising circuit for both Aprilia and me."

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