Aleix Espargaro 'happy as last year’s podiums' after Austin breakthrough
The Texan track has traditionally been one of, if not the worst of the season for Espargaro, who had never finished in the top ten with the RS-GP.
But some big set-up changes saw him qualify in sixth, then run second to eventual winner Francesco Bagnaia for the majority of the 10 laps.
Alex Rins and then Martin moved ahead in the closing stages, but Espargaro was close enough to try a last-lap repass on the Pramac Ducati rider.
The #41 couldn’t make it stick, but being so competitive meant he valued the result as much as the podiums he scored last season.
- COTA Sprint race: New MotoGP world championship standings
- Latest MotoGP results from COTA
- Marc Marquez penalty: MotoGP Court of Appeal grants 'stay of execution’
“I'm very happy and thankful to the team because we never normally mess so much with the setting, with the geometry of the bike and we did yesterday,” Espargaro said.
“We had long meetings. They tried to help me as much as possible. We made the bike shorter and we changed also the front end quite a lot to make the bike a little more agile. And from this morning I felt good.
“I did a good qualifying and then the pace that I showed in the race, I'm as happy as the podiums that I did last year sincerely. I missed out on the third place but the pace that I that I did was very good. Very fast.”
Espargaro, who also set the second fastest lap of the race, now heads into Sunday’s main event believing he has the speed to match all but Bagnaia.
“I think I have very similar speed to Rins and Martin. I made some mistakes that hasn't allowed me to fight for the podium, but they are not faster than me,” Espargaro said.
“Pecco is faster than me, sincerely. The way he picks up the bike, the way he prepared the exit of the corner allows him to have a better traction than the rest. He’s really riding in a very high level at the moment, so I don't think we can match him, but there's still time to improve. Every session, I improve a little bit, so hopefully I can find Something for tomorrow.”
Team-mate Maverick Vinales was the next best Aprilia rider, in tenth, having fought back from 18th on the opening lap.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
