Aleix Espargaro ‘angry and disappointed’, ‘needs podium’

“My guys said, ‘Fabio is [just] in front of you’. But I don't care. This is a very special GP. I want to finish on the podium because it’s the home race of Aprilia,” Espargaro said.

With memories of the huge Silverstone highside still fresh in his mind, Espargaro felt he had played it a little too safe in Saturday’s tricky damp qualifying.

“When I left pitlane I felt a mix of angry and disappointed. Because to ride in these conditions is very tricky, very dangerous,” Espargaro said.

“I touched a white line in the first lap and almost flew [off]. So I tried to focus and make no mistakes, go as fast as possible but without risk. And maybe I had to risk a little bit more because ninth place is not good.

“I didn't want to make a stupid mistake like I did in Silverstone, because there are still a lot of points, a lot of races, a lot of days in front of us. It's just qualifying.

“But obviously if it rains tomorrow, I will have to risk a bit more because you get the points, not today.”

Off the rostrum for the past five rounds and having slipped 32 points behind Quartararo, Espargaro now views a Misano podium as crucial to his title hopes.

“I know that if I want to fight for the championship, I need to finish on the podium. So this is what I’m aiming for,” he said.

Fortunately for Espargaro, the RS-GP “improved quite a lot” on Saturday, with the Spaniard and team-mate Maverick Vinales finishing behind only Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati) in final practice.

“I changed quite a lot the bike from yesterday. I made it a little bit longer like Maverick to gain some stability on the brakes. To avoid the sliding," Espargaro said.

"And I gained a lot of stability. I was able to brake later and I was surprised for my pace. I was not really pushing like hell and I was all the time in 32.4 which is very fast.

"So it's a shame, the qualifying, because I think that the race pace is very strong from both Aprilias."

Meanwhile, if the rain stays away, Espargaro predicts a flat-out race.

“I don't think that it will be a strategic race. You can go full gas from lap 1 to the end and this is something that didn't happen in a long time,” he explained.

“I don't know if the Ducatis will choose the soft rear tyre, but with the medium, I started this morning with 19 laps and on lap 27 I did 32.5. The degradation is very low. No drop of the tyre. So I'm very happy about this.”

Vinales has qualified as the top non-Ducati in fifth place, which will become fourth on the grid due to the penalty for Francesco Bagnaia.

Bagnaia, winner of the last three races, is now within 12 points of Espargaro.