Aleix Espargaro “beaten up”, Aprilia a “blunt knife” at Qatar MotoGP

The disappointment of the Qatar MotoGP for Aprilia and Aleix Espargaro has been likened to “a blunt knife”.

Espargaro, at one of his favourite tracks, enjoyed a roaring conclusion to the Saturday sprint race, earning a podium finish, and was the favourite to win Sunday’s grand prix with many inside the paddock, as a result.

But a disappointing outing resulted in a P8 finish, blamed on poor rear grip.

“Weird,” was how TNT Sports’ Michael Laverty summed up Espargaro’s race.

“Something strange happened,” he added.

“He never had any fight from the off. He was getting beaten up, overtaken, on the first two or three laps.

“Then we expected, when he was only 3.84s off the lead, that it’s going to kick into gear for him. The grip will come to Aleix.

“But it never happened and he dropped further behind.

“It may have been the cooler track temperature or everyone else just figuring things out overnight.

“But it did seem like Aprilia were a blunt knife.

“They should have been the package which fought the Ducatis, but they just didn’t have it.”

Espargaro, the oldest rider on the 2024 MotoGP grid at 34, admitted that he woke up on Sunday morning expecting he could win in Qatar.

But he admitted to the quick realisation that he was “extremely slow” in the race eventually won by Francesco Bagnaia.

"Already on the warm-up lap to the grid I felt that I had no grip at all. Something went wrong with the rear tyre.

“We have to try to understand what happened with Michelin and the team.

"Obviously with the pace we showed in the last part of the Sprint I was aiming for a completely different race.

"But there was nothing I could do. It was a nightmare all race."

He later added: “I'm a little bit angry because we lost a good opportunity.

"In any case, I am still leaving Qatar knowing that I have a competitive bike and the championship has only just begun."

Aprilia entered the season-opener tipped to be Ducati’s closest challenger but, after a bizarre Sunday, it never came to fruition.

KTM’s Brad Binder was instead the sole non-Ducati in the top seven.