ALEIX ESPARGARÓ RIDES HIS APRILIA TO A SIXTH PLACE FINISH IN ARAGÓN, CLOSER THAN EVER TO THE LEADERS
ON A LONG-AWAITED TROUBLE FREE WEEKEND, AN EXCELLENT RACE SHOWS THE POTENTIAL OF THE ITALIAN BIKE
ESPARGARÓ: WE ARE GROWING CONSTANTLY AND WE SHOW IT EVERY WEEKEND
ALBESIANO: A GREAT PERFORMANCE ON ONE OF THE MOST TELLING TRACKS THAT SHOWS OUR VALUE
With a brilliant race, Aleix Espargaró rode his Aprilia RS-GP to a sixth place finish in Aragón. It was a performance worthy of a protagonist. Aleix battled consistently just behind the leaders and, an even more important result, he finished six seconds and nine tenths behind Marquez, just behind Valentino Rossi and ahead of Dovizioso, so battling with World Title contenders. This is the best race performance yet for the fledgling RS-GP.
It is a result that dispels any doubts about the potential of the Italian team who, on a long-awaited trouble free weekend, was able to fully express their skills, highlighting in the race all the progress made by the youngest bike on the grid.
This nice result is the cherry on top of a weekend where Aleix was consistently in the top ten. It was clear from this morning that Aleix and his Aprilia were in grand form when the number 41 rider finished the warm up session in second place with only Marquez ahead of him. In the race, starting from the eighth spot on the grid, Espargaró lost a few positions at the start, dropping back to twelfth place. From there, a great comeback ride began in which he moved up to ninth place already on the first lap, then battling constantly in the group that was trying to chase down the race leaders. Overtaking Kallio, Bautista and finally Dovizioso, Aleix earned his final placement, in addition to the satisfaction of taking home the fifth best race time.
Sam Lowes, certainly not helped by the few sessions held on dry asphalt, finished twenty-second, missing the points zone which is still his primary objective.
ALEIX ESPARGARO’
“I think everyone had fun today. It is not often that so many riders are so close all the way to the chequered flag in MotoGP. It was a hard race, but I liked it. At a certain point, I thought that I might be able to have a go at fourth place with Valentino and Maverick, but when there were only a few laps left, they picked up their pace and I had to settle. I any case, I am satisfied with the sixth place finish, but especially with the gap behind the winner. We are improving constantly and we demonstrate that basically every weekend. Unfortunately, we have been lacking consistent race results. In any case, we still have four rounds to go on tracks that I really like, so I want to finish this season well.”
SAM LOWES
“Unfortunately, I struggled yesterday, I think partly because of the characteristics of the track that gave a lot of us MotoGP rookies trouble. I knew that my pace wouldn’t be the fastest today, but I was able to be consistent and not make any mistakes, finishing the race. Obviously, my objective is different, but on a less than easy weekend with only a few sessions held on dry asphalt to prepare for the race, I need to look at the positive aspects and think about Japan.”
ROMANO ALBESIANO – APRILIA RACING MANAGER
“It was a great weekend. Both in practice and in the race, we were finally able to express our potential and it is important to have done that on a track where everything counts, from the engine to chassis architecture to fine tuning, a real test bench and one of the best tracks on which to demonstrate our value. Performance was constantly very high and we are taking home what I believe we truly are worthy of today.”
FAUSTO GRESINI – TEAM MANAGER
“A fantastic race, as we expected. Aleix was fast and the bike worked well. Today we reaped what our potential allows. This race helps, especially for the team’s motivation, rewarding the great efforts made thus far. Everyone deserves to be complimented, from those working from home to the guys here at the track. This is a great team that has believed in the project and worked hard with heart and soul.”
