Espargaro calls soft tyre gamble a ‘big mistake, threw away big opportunity’

Espargaro was of that mindset after a surprise decision to fit the soft rear tyre was made by himself and the factory Aprilia Racing team.

Prior to the race Michelin had advised riders not to use the soft rear, and after 10 laps it was already apparent that Espargaro was in for a tough afternoon. 

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“Big mistake from myself and the team. It’s a team mistake but I’m the last one who decides so it’s a bad mistake,” said Espargaro. 

“I had a very bad feeling in the warm-up; a very, very bad feeling. Maybe it was not the best tyre in the warm-up and instead of insisting and putting the medium in like everyone, I put in the soft. 

“I was expecting the drop but maybe further into the race. I lost a good opportunity today. 

“From Friday I have been one of the fastest riders on the grid so fighting for the podium was a big possibility. I made a mistake. 

“It’s difficult in MotoGP to be able to fight for podiums and victories, so to throw away an opportunity like this is not really good.”

Espargaro knew the soft rear were cause problems late on, however, he was hoping to at least double the amount of laps he managed before struggling.

A 27-lap race, Espargaro was aiming to get to around 20 laps before suffering a drop in performance, but that was far from the case.

Espargaro said: “I expected to do at least the first 18-20 laps at a decent pace but on lap 10 I could feel a drop. 

“It's really a big shame because I had really good speed the whole weekend. It’s stupid to say I could win but I felt like all weekend I was strong.”