Aleix Espargaró showed speed in the MotoGP test in Losail. This Tuesday, on the last day of pre-season, he finished in third place, 0.308s behind leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)… despite not having the best sensations with the soft tire.
The Spanish rider from Aprilia mentioned that he is at a better level than expected, but the engine needs improvement: ‘I am happy, very, very happy. We are at… I would say at a higher level than I expected before the two tests – completely different tracks and we were fast. Aprilia is better in every aspect, we just need to improve the bike in terms of the engine – we need more torque, more power, especially for the soft tire because it seems like we are at the limit, we can’t extract more from the soft tire, so we will have difficulties on Saturdays. But in terms of race pace with the medium tire, it was fantastic like today, so I am very happy.’
Despite the difficulties in being fast on one lap, Espargaró still managed to finish third on the timesheet. However, he downplayed the result: ‘Yes, the 2024 RS-GP is good, I am very happy. But if you look at my race simulation before falling on the seventh or eighth lap, it was an incredible pace. I did some laps in the 1m51s, which is crazy with the medium tire. So, this means that when you mount the soft tire, you would expect to be at the top, to be at least a couple of tenths faster. But I couldn’t because it’s like a flat place everywhere. I need more power. The bike is incredible everywhere, we just need to increase the power performance a bit.’
