The practice session clock that determined the ten riders going directly to Q2 of the British GP had already reached zero, but some riders were still completing their last lap. Among these also Aleix Espargaro, who was coloring all the splits red, until he crossed the finish line with a superb 1’58″183, almost seven tenths faster than the fastest up to that moment.
The Spaniard’s time was so fast and spectacular that some British media asked him about the veracity of that lap, doubting that he hadn’t even missed a corner “Yes, they asked me three times and in the end I said yes, so they were able to rest easy”, joked the Aprilia rider.
“In the morning practices I felt very comfortable, very good. In the afternoon I remembered a little bit about last year, when my decline in the second part of the season was due to the mistake I made here at Silverstone. So maybe I started a bit conservative in the second session, I didn’t want to make the same mistake, but I felt very fast, already with the medium tire I was very close.With the second soft tire I made a couple of mistakes and I didn’t know whether to use the third , but I saw that rain was forecast for tomorrow and that everyone was using the third soft tyre, so I put it on. I had a great lap,” he explained.
Apart from the fastest lap, Aleix believes he has a good pace even with used tyres.
“During the day, the riders in front of us were the ones with new tyres, the only ones to be fast with the medium tires were Bezzecchi, Martin and myself. And in the afternoon the same, then Binder, Miller and Oliveira joined, but with soft tyres.
With these performances, together with those of Maverick Vinales, also fast with the fourth fastest time on the second RS-GP, and of Oliveira and Raul Fernandez, it seems that Aprilia has brought some interesting things after the break.
“Not everything I expected, but they have brought some improvements: a new fairing, a new front end, and we know that from an aerodynamic point of view it is very important to progress nowadays. The bike has improved in terms of stability, direction, and the truth is that I like it”.
Although the day was very positive, Aleix didn’t want to set big goals for the moment.
“It’s only Friday, the first day. We have to take one step at a time. The bike works here, I feel very good, now we’ll see if we can fight for the win in the race”. Another new package will arrive in Austria, perhaps more important than the one they brought here, so it will be important to see what we can try there on Friday morning. I’m glad they’re still working hard, because I think we have a very good couple or three seasons ahead of us at Aprilia.”
The Aprilia man was asked to elaborate on the improvements.
“Stability has improved a lot compared to Holland, this year in Assen it was more unstable than in 2022, Oliveira also had problems. Here we have improved a lot, the air duct is different on the front, even in the electronics, yes they are taking small steps to improve. What doesn’t make sense is how other brands have done, bringing something very big all at once, like a giant wing (Honda): the bike is not compensated and this is useless. But if you have a balanced bike and little by little you take small steps forward, it’s more important”.
Rain is expected on Saturday, even if the Aprilia went badly in the wet race at Termas.
“I’m fast in the wet, but this year it rained in Argentina and a very strange thing happened, the tire didn’t work for us. I think we understood the reason and solved it,” said the Granollers rider.
Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
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