Aleix Espargaro “never competitive” in “frustrating” Misano MotoGP round
Aprilia’s woes continued at the San Marino GP
Aleix Espargaro says he was “never competitive” across the MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix weekend as all Aprilias struggled for pace.
After a dismal Aragon GP in which the best Aprilia was Espargaro in 10th, 40s off the win, expectations were high for Misano as it was thought the higher grip offered by the Italian track's surface would suit the RS-GP.
But only one Aprilia - Maverick Vinales - made it into Q2, and could then only qualify 11th, while the marque scored no points in the sprint.
In the grand prix, Miguel Oliveira was its highest-placed representative in 11th for Trackhouse Racing - but was 46s from the lead.
Both factory team-mates Espargaro and Vinales pitted during the brief rain period of the grand prix, with the former - who qualified 13th - eventually retiring.
“Two very disappointing weekends,” Espargaro said.
“I’m a little bit sad, because apart from the result of [the grand prix]; we took a gamble, I pitted in to take the rain tyres and it didn’t work.
“But this can happen. Apart from that, I was never competitive during the weekend.
“I was never competitive after the rain also in Aragon on Saturday and Sunday. So, the last couple of rounds we miss something and it’s frustrating. But it is how it it is. It’s not easy.”
Vinales says his decision to pit was based on the poor feeling he had on his medium tyres when it rained, which highlighted the grip issues Aprilia suffered in Aragon.
“I started the race with the medium rear tyre and I needed more laps to get the tyre up to temperature,” Vinales, who finished a lapped 16th, explained.
“But it started to rain and my feeling was very bad on the bike.
“So, I saw more and more rain was coming and I decided to pit in based on the feelings.
“As soon as I go out and did just one lap, then I was forced to go in and change to the dry tyres. Then I had a good rhythm, to be honest, but we tried.”
