Sunday did not start well for Aleix Espargaró due to a crash on turn seven during the warm up session that left the rider with pain in his neck and in less-than-optimum conditions for riding in the race. From the start, Aleix had to deal with a grip problem at the front that had a decisive impact on the early laps, so much to convince him to pit on the seventh lap.

Scott Redding rode the only RS-GP over the finish line in the Japanese race. The English rider finished nineteenth, so outside of the points zone, despite a good start which, in the early stages of the race, had placed him in the battle for a good finishing position.

ALEIX ESPARGARO’“What happened today was strange. From the start the instrument cluster was showing an alarm for front tyre pressure and temperature which went to abnormal levels. It was impossible to ride. The wheel locked up in braking even when going straight and I was forced to retire. It was not an easy weekend for us. We need to analyse the situation well to figure out what happened.”

SCOTT REDDING“I think I had my best start of the season. I made up a lot of positions and in the early laps I felt good. The grip was good, I was in the group and I was able to keep the pace. At a certain point, the front tyre began to move around. I chose the soft because the medium was unusable. I tried it in the warm up session too, but without results. I was managing things rather well, but then I began losing grip at the rear and I had to settle for finishing the race.”

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