The MotoGP Thai Grand Prix sprint race was simultaneously rewarding and frustrating for Aleix Espargaró. On the one hand, the Aprilia rider is delivering a strong performance in Buriram, traditionally a challenging circuit for the manufacturer. However, on the other hand, he was unable to compete with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/Ducati) in the sprint race due to the behavior of his RS-GP bike among the riders in front of him.
The Spaniard was happy with the performance, even though he admits it’s never enough: ‘On Thursday my expectations were lower, but you know how we are – it’s never good enough. But I’ve been very competitive in our worst track, all sessions in the top five, first row, fighting for the podium in the sprint. And we are ready for tomorrow’s race, which is the important thing’.
Espargaró then explained that he felt he was faster than his rivals, but being unable to try to overtake: ‘My feeling was that I had better speed than Brad and Luca, but I struggled when I was behind. When I tried to close to overtake, the bike didn’t turn, I had a lot of problems. In the last lap I tried to be close to Luca to try in the last corner and I made a mistake in turn one and I had the track limits, so I couldn’t go into the green anymore. So I’ve lost a lot of time and the position to Marc. Anyway, I’m satisfied about my team and my performance. We did a good job and we are ready to race tomorrow’.
Asked whether the tyre pressure and temperature had a role in his struggles, the #41 denied it and suggested that the problems could be related to the aerodynamics: ‘This is what I thought, but immediately when arrive to the garage and I go to the computer to check, the tyre temperature and pressure were quite stable and quite good. So I think it was more about the aerodynamics. When I had some gap against Brad and Luca I was able to gain a lot especially in turn 3/4. But when I was close to him it was impossible for me to turn. So it was very frustrating. In the first lap I had even more speed than Luca, I thought I could try to go with Jorge [Martín] , but I passed him twice and he passed me again’.