**”Disastrous Aragon MotoGP: Aprilia’s ‘Horrible’ Weekend with Espargaro and Vinales Struggling to Keep Up”**

Disastrous Aprilia Weekend, Humiliating Aragon MotoGP Performance

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 ended Friday's MotoGP practice session at Aragon with times that placed them just behind Marc Marquez.

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

In the beginning, it seemed unusual that Espargaro and Vinales were trailing Marquez's pole position time by a massive 2.9 seconds and 3.7 seconds, respectively, during qualifying.

The gap was evident during the Sprint race when Vinales came in 19th, placing last, and trailing Marquez by 37.6 seconds, which breaks down to 3.4 seconds per lap.

Espargaro, on the other hand, didn't make it past the first turn. He experienced wheelspin due to starting on the less clean side of the grid and subsequently made contact with the rear of Fabio di Giannantonio's bike.

In his final Aragon race before retiring, Espargaro managed to finish on Sunday but found himself a disappointing 40.6 seconds behind Marquez, securing only tenth place.

"I gave it my all, but nothing seemed to go right, and we ended up more than 40 seconds behind the winner, which is quite humiliating," Espargaro remarked. "Once more, I struggled to even stay on the bike, but at least we made it into the top ten and gained some points."

Espargaro explained that they couldn't get the tires to function properly. His main concern shifted to preventing crashes rather than focusing on performance. He added that even getting his knee to touch the ground was a struggle.

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

Things were even more challenging for Vinales. He immediately fell to the last position during the first lap on Sunday and stayed there, except for being ahead of Luca Marini, who began in the pit lane. Vinales eventually retired from the race shortly before reaching the halfway point.

The fastest lap achieved by the COTA winner was 2.7 seconds behind Marquez's best time.

“We found it challenging to get the tires to function properly. I felt like I was on the verge of crashing at every corner, particularly with the back tire,” Vinales stated.

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

The struggle to get the tires to perform on a challenging track resulted in Marquez's race time being 12 seconds slower than Enea Bastianini's from two years prior. This issue appeared to mirror past problems that Aprilia has faced when using slick tires in wet conditions. "It was a terrible weekend," stated team boss Massimo Rivola. "On Friday, we were quick despite having little grip, but then we lost our direction and ended up around four seconds slower than our best times."

"This poor showing should inspire us to keep analyzing and improving as we prepare for the upcoming races, beginning with Misano."

Trackhouse racer Miguel Oliveira, who finished fifth in the Sprint, had an accident on the first lap of the grand prix. His teammate, Raul Fernandez, ended up in 16th place due to a penalty for tyre pressure.

“Today was incredibly challenging,” Fernandez remarked. “I can’t quite grasp what occurred. The previous day, I managed three laps with decent traction before experiencing significant tire wear. However, today, there was no grip at all.”

"I had no traction and it felt like I was racing on ice the entire time, which led to numerous errors."

"That race was among the toughest I've ever experienced… The bright side is that all of us at Aprilia are encountering the same challenges. With four of us providing feedback, we can collaborate effectively to determine the right path forward."

Another positive update for Aprilia is that the upcoming home race at Misano this weekend is expected to provide significantly better traction.

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