The Thai GP was especially tough for Aleix Espargaró… but not only for him. The Spanish rider revealed that his teammate, Maverick Viñales, and at least one of the satellite riders – Raúl Fernández – had issues with the RS-GP overheating, which limited their races, a problem that… is not new.
The #41 spoke about the source of the problems with his bike, with excessive heating being at the root of the issues, and clarified that he was not the only one within the Aprilia team experiencing these problems:
– All the heat from the bike, the engine, the chassis, everything, comes from the middle of the fuel tank area and goes to the lungs and we couldn’t breathe. Maverick [Viñales] had to retire from the race because of this, he couldn’t breathe and went back to the garage. Raúl [Fernández] told me that halfway through the race he also couldn’t breathe and decided to slow down and lose ten seconds in the final part of the race.
The Spanish rider explained next that the problem is not new, and the team is trying to solve the situation… without success: ‘This always happens, in the same circuits in the last four years, but today it was really on the edge. The team is trying some things but nothing is working. We tried something this morning in Warm Up, me and Raúl but it’s not leading to anything. I don’t know why the bike reaches this temperature, it’s crazy’.
And he concluded, referring to the experience of other riders with different manufacturers recently: ‘I was born with this bike and I don’t even remember another one that I have ridden that wasn’t an Aprilia, I think it was seven years ago and I don’t remember, but especially Maverick who comes from Yamaha or Raúl who comes from KTM, I talked to him and he told me that last year he had no problem with the temperature, with the heat coming from the bike, nothing, it’s very strange’.
A. Espargaró did not mention Miguel Oliveira and it is not known if the problem of the Portuguese rider, which led to his retirement, could be similar to that experienced by the other Aprilia riders.
