Who would have thought? Massimo Rivola must have thought about it at least for a moment during the return lap after the Red Bull Ring Sprint, in which Aprilia managed to bring home an unexpected and unhoped-for third place at least on the eve of the Austrian weekend.
Aleix Espargaro, in the eye of the storm in the last few hours for some statements made against Franco Morbidelli and Jack Miller, gave the best of himself and his Aprilia RS-GP, finishing behind the two great protagonists of the season, namely Francesco Bagnaia, winner of the Sprint, and Jorge Martin.
An Aprilia, his, against many Ducatis. It is good to make things clear: without the fall that forced Marc Marquez to retire, the Catalan would have hardly succeeded in the feat, but when the opportunity arises, it is important to be there and reach the finish line. He did it and, what’s more, with a race pace that was unrivaled by all those who arrived behind him.
“I’m very happy and proud,” the Aprilia rider told Sky’s microphones once the Sprint was over. “Maybe the best Saturday of my career. This is a very difficult track for me, I struggle a lot to stop the bike. It’s also true that this track is like kryptonite for Aprilia. From yesterday to today we’ve changed the setup a lot. In qualifying it went very well and in the Sprint we also did well. We know that the top 3 with Ducati are on another level, but we weren’t that far away and we were the first alternative. I’m happy.”
“Honestly, before the start of the race I thought it would be worse. I thought I could go fast at the start of the race, I was convinced that I would start without holding anything back, in qualifying mode, and then see where we could get to. But I didn’t think I could stay behind the leaders for 8 laps and give several seconds to those who came in behind me. It was interesting. I took a lot of risks, I have to admit, but we brought it home.”
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
After 7-8 laps Espargaro’s pace inevitably increased. Having asked so much – perhaps too much – from the Soft rear tyre led to a visible drop in race pace. But those following him never managed to do better.
“The drop in pace that I had in the second part of the race was not due to my intentions. I simply made the most of the rear tyre at the beginning and I know that the three Ducatis, especially Pecco and Jorge, are able to manage the tyres better even though they are close to the limit. In short, they try not to destroy the tyres. Instead, I started in qualifying mode. I suffered, but my pace was good and behind me there were no riders who were going faster”.
Finally, Espargaro spoke about the changes that gave him a chance of finishing on the podium today. These worked well with the choice of fitting a Soft rear tyre. Tomorrow, with the race longer, the Soft compound should not be part of the riders’ choice.
For Aprilia this could be a problem, because with the Medium on the rear it should have serious problems again when braking. Not only that, because the difficulty in braking the bike will lead to collateral problems that will make the situation even more complex.
“From yesterday to today I moved the weight back and we improved, but with the medium tyre we struggle more because I struggle to stop it. It skids more. In acceleration it’s not bad, but I struggle to stop it. With Albesiano we are talking to find something that can help us stop the bike, to improve it. It’s what we have to do because it makes you wear the tyres more, accelerate later… We are working on it”.
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