SATISFACTION AND REGRETS FOR APRILIA IN THE GERMAN RACE
ALEIX CRASHES ON THE PENULTIMATE LAP AFTER AN OUTSTANDING RACE WITH THE GROUP BATTLING FOR FOURTH TO TENTH PLACE
ANDREA MAKES ANOTHER STEP FORWARD GETTING TO KNOW HIS RS-GP AND FINISHES IN THE POINTS AGAIN
With an outstanding race, Aleix Espargaró rode his Aprilia where he would like to be consistently in this 2019 season, namely with the group battling for the positions between fourth and tenth place. After pulling away from his brother Pol in the early stages of the race, he stayed with the group that included Dovizioso, Mir, Miller, Petrucci, Rossi and Morbidelli. In the finale, in a great duel with Morbidelli, he moved into ninth place, but at the start of the penultimate lap, he crashed out on turn one, nullifying the result in terms of points, but certainly not negating the positive sensations of the weekend.
Andrea Iannone confirmed his growth trend that began at the Barcelona race. After struggling in the early stages, he gradually gained confidence, lapping with times that were more and more like those farther ahead. He finished in the points here as well, overtaking Nakagami right at the end for thirteenth place.
ALEIX ESPARGARO’
“We were finally competitive. I’m sorry for the team and for all those who work on this project. When you end a race with a crash, you are usually angry about it, but today I am pleased because we were able to stay with the group where we want to be battling, from fourth to tenth place. I had a good start. I didn’t have great grip on the rear, but I was very strong in braking and I managed to stay up with Rossi. When he overtook Morbidelli, I struggled to do the same and I got a bit frustrated. When I got past him and tried to close the gap, I made a small mistake on turn 1 and crashed. We are not in the fight for the title, so when I saw the chance to take eighth, I went for it. It’s a pity about how it ended, but I am very pleased about how we did this weekend.”
ANDREA IANNONE
“We are headed into the summer break on an upward trend. From Barcelona on, we took a small step and we need to pick up from here for the second half of the season. It was not an easy race today. I struggled with fresh tyres, but as the laps went by, I began to improve. We are taking some points home, but more than anything, I have more confidence in the saddle. We are able to understand the RS-GP better and we are very clear about which points we need to work on. I hope that the guys at home are able to get something new ready already for Brno. Our goal from here on is to battle consistently for the top 10.”
