Aleix Espargaro had already said on Thursday, upon his arrival in Misano, that expectations for improvement for Aprilia were not as high as some might think, given that the test after the San Marino Grand Prix had not been fantastic for them, but just normal, and still saw Ducati a step ahead of the competition on their home track.
Friday more or less followed the script that the rider from Granollers had in mind, with Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martín, Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini dictating the pace. But the truth is that both the Noale team and he found themselves a little better than expected. In fact, Aleix (tenth, +0″881 from the reigning world champion) and Maverick Vinales (eighth, +0″704) managed to slip directly into Q2, something that only the rider from Roses had done 14 days ago, on the same track.
After stepping off his RS-GP at the circuit named after Marco Simoncelli, Espargaro acknowledged that there has been an improvement, which will make things easier for them in the next two days of racing: “We have improved a bit compared to the first race in Misano, and we are with both Aprilias in Q2, so this makes our life a bit easier.”
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
However, this is not enough for the Catalan, as the difference with the Borgo Panigale riders is evident, as can be clearly seen in the use of tyres: “But I like to look up, and we wanted to be more competitive. And I don’t remember a race in the last two or three years where Pecco and Martin with the medium tyre were faster than me and Maverick with the soft like today. Marc is no different; he is a rider who lives on Sundays”. Without further ado, the veteran rider summed up his current situation in one sentence: “We can’t wait to leave Misano”.
Finally, Aleix highlighted an improvement introduced by Aprilia this weekend: “We tried a new tank, which was very good for us. I don’t know why we didn’t use it before. Usually I don’t like to try things that affect my position on the bike, but in this case it’s very good.”
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