Aleix Espargaró came close to breaking the MotoGP lap record at MotorLand Aragón, but his Friday at the Aragon GP wasn’t without challenges. The Aprilia rider finished last in the first free practice session, experiencing a few off-track excursions without major consequences. However, in the afternoon session, he improved significantly, finishing second, only behind Marc Márquez (Gresini/Ducati), who set a new lap record.
The Spanish rider told the press: ‘I’m happy overall, especially with the track improvement, because this morning I felt quite bad. It was a mix between using the tyres that I don’t like due to the allocation, and the dirty track, so I took my time. And the afternoon was quite good’.
Despite all the struggles in FP1, Espargaró assured that he never felt anxious: ‘It was not that easy, believe me. I know that this year, when I have everything together, I put the tyres that I like and I can be fast. So I didn’t have panic, I wasn’t stressed. With the soft front, because there are not enough H tyres on the allocation, I just couldn’t stop the bike – it was impossible for me. And with the medium rear, plus the dirty track, I just mapped both bikes, I tried the bike 1 and the bike 2, I mapped both and that’s it’.
All Aprilia riders managed to finish in the top ten in the afternoon session, but the #41 rider denied that it was due to the track being more slippery: ‘I don’t think the conditions were slippery in the afternoon; I was super close and Marc [Márquez] destroyed the lap record. So I don’t think the track was slippery in the afternoon. Both factory Aprilias, if you analyze, I think in the last race me and Maverick [Viñales], we have always been in top five, top six, top three on Friday. The thing is that we are very happy to see the Trackhouse guys in the top ten. This is what makes me happy, because to see four Aprilias in the top ten is great’.