Aleix: Damage limitation, Fabio ‘best rider’, Zarco near miss

Espargaro’s lost lap, a 1m 29.032s, would have put him sixth on the grid and directly behind Yamaha’s reigning champion Quartararo, the fastest non-Ducati in qualifying.

But the Aprilia rider brushed the green paint on the exit of Turn 8 and the time was cancelled for exceeding track limits.

With Ducati dominating the timesheets, at a track where they’ve won six of the last eight races, Espargaro is realistic about his prospects for the race - but aware that ‘anything can happen’.

“The bike is good, but it's not good enough here in this circuit with the Ducatis,” Espargaro said. “I mean we are competitive, but the level of the championship is very high and there are some tracks where you have to limit the damage and take the maximum points possible.

“The example of how fast the Ducatis are here is that it doesn't matter who's riding the bike, they are top five in every session.

“Here and Misano are the only two races that I'm a little worried about [from now on]. But especially here. And sincerely, if you analyse the data, the lap time they cancelled was exactly the same as the first non-Ducati bike, of Fabio, and just two-tenths from [pole].

“So even in a track like this, we are able to be that competitive, it's good for us.”

Espargaro: Fabio 'best rider on the grid'

While a podium could prove difficult for Espargaro on Sunday, title rival Quartararo - currently 22 points clear in the world championship - will also have a major fight on his hands against the Ducatis.

Espargaro praised the young Frenchman for his performances this weekend and isn’t ruling out an upset on Sunday.

“I would not be worried if I was him. You cannot win every race and here he's doing a great job sincerely,” said Espargaro. “The Yamaha is not at the level of the Ducati and he's very close to them. He's the best rider on the grid right now. I'm sure if he had the best bike he would win the title with a lot of [margin].

“We will see how he manages the race. I know he will try to win and that's good because that's what a champion has to do. We will see, because racing is racing. Last year Binder won the race [in a rain storm], everything can happen. All the different Ducatis in front will want to win tomorrow, so hopefully Fabio and I can join the party."

Espargaro's team-mate Maverick Vinales, on the podium for the past two races, qualified in seventh place.

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The Zarco incident? ‘I miscalculated, but the problem was before’

Saturday morning’s FP3 session saw a scary near-miss between Espargaro and Johann Zarco, after the Pramac Ducati rider joined the track from pitlane.

“He came to the garage to apologise, to say ‘I'm sorry’. He said, ‘I had no other place to go. Maybe we can add some green asphalt there just in case you are exiting the pits’,” Espargaro said.

“I said, ‘OK you're right, you had no other place [to go]. But when you are exiting off pitlane you have to turn around’. Actually, he turned around. He saw me. So you cannot join the track if somebody is coming at 300 kilometres per hour.”

Espargaro conceded that he could still have given Zarco more room as he passed.

“It's true I could give him a little bit more space. I didn't calculate well, but it's not easy to calculate. The bikes are accelerating, you have to turn… Maybe I didn't calculate well.

“But the problem came from before. He cannot re-join the track if somebody is coming. He had the blue flags. But hopefully we can learn and add some green asphalt there, so if somebody is coming out from the pit, he can use that zone.”

Zarco, who instinctively pulled his arm in as Espargaro skimmed past, said:

“I went out of the pit box, I didn't see anybody because it's kind of blind. I thought it was OK, so I opened the throttle a little bit more, then I checked again - because I always check twice - and I saw Aleix.

“So then I tried to go well on the right, but he exaggerated a bit to stay close to me, he could keep one metre more [away from me]. He didn't do [that], even he put the body [to that side]. Fortunately, we didn't touch.

“I could not go more on the right and I was looking twice back and just he was arriving. I didn't want to disturb him for sure, but I think a little bit more distance [between us] could be possible.”

The incident was a knock-on from the change of racing line caused by the new Turn 2 chicane.

Zarco confirmed that he had suggested creating some asphalt run off to allow a rider leaving the pits to pull completely off the track in such situations.

“I was speaking with Aleix and maybe instead of the grass put some green asphalt, so when you go out of the pit box you’re sure you’re not disturbing anyone.”