Aleix Espargaro: "Ridiculous that riders are waiting in the garage for a tow"

Aleix Espargaro has doubled down on Francesco Bagnaia's criticism of several MotoGP riders for their qualifying antics.

Once again, Q2 at Silverstone was dominated by slow-riding as the likes of Marc Marquez waited patiently for a pole contender to drag them round.

Marquez latched on Bagnaia in the first stint but was ultimately unable to stay close on the second lap around. 

Espargaro was untroubled though as he came across the line last, and crucially on his own, to steal pole away from Ducati.

But that didn't stop the Spaniard from backing up Bagnaia's claims that waiting for a tow is 'ridiculous'. 

Espargaro told the media including Crash.net who are present at Silverstone: "I agree. In the qualifying you can take two risks. The first one is to go out first because the first one will be followed and you are in the mix with everybody. 

"Or the second one is to wait, go last, but if there is a yellow flag you ruin your lap. 

"I don't like to go behind the others. I like to work by myself. I agree with Pecco. 

"It is ridiculous that riders are waiting in the garage all the time for a tow. It's ridiculous to see five-six riders and it's always the same riders in the middle of the track waiting for the others. 

"It's also dangerous because the others don't want to push and the tyres get cold. 

"It's dangerous but they can do it because the rules allow you to do it. This is racing But like Pecco, it's ridiculous."

In the sprint race, Espargaro claimed an impressive third although he wanted more after starting first. 

The Aprilia rider believes a win would have been possible if he went for the soft front, however, with Sunday's grand prix in mind, the hard tyre was the right choice in order to gain data. 

"You always want a bit more when you don't win, but I'm happy really," added Espargaro. 

"I did a good race. There was nothing more I could do. I was expecting some drop from Jorge and Enea in the last three laps but they didn't drop. 

"It was amazing the pace they proposed. I think that with the soft front tyre we could have fought for the victory but when I saw that no one in Ducati used the hard front, I said to myself that it was a good opportunity to test it for the long race. 

"I think everybody should go for the hard front so we put a lot of laps in the race and tomorrow can be more precise with the pressure and try something more on the setting. 

"We did the right choice but we lost the victory maybe. But tomorrow is more important."