2023-05-11 14:00:08
Aleix Espargaró “must start picking up more points” to relaunch the championship and hopes to play for victory this weekend at Le Mans. The Aprilia rider is nevertheless aware of the limits of his bike in race duels.
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The start of the season leaves a taste of unfinished business for Aprilia, in particular Aleix Espargaró. The Catalan is only 13th in the championship despite being third following four races in 2022, but he is not giving up hope. Espargaró will be hoping for a rebound from the French Grand Prix this weekend, which he believes is necessary to begin to nibble away from his 58-point deficit on I’m sorry Bagnaia.
“It’s not linked to the type of track, we are among the fastest at all the GPs”assured the Aprilia rider, who relies mainly on progress in racing conditions: “You have to perform well on Sunday and I hope that with a little less temperature [qu’à Jerez], if I can qualify well, we can fight for the podium or the victory. We have to start getting more points if we want to play in the top 3 of the championship.”
Since the start of the season, Aleix Espargaró has regularly been among the leaders on Friday and Saturday and he even remains on a pole in Jerez, but he struggled more on Sunday, which he attributes to the characteristics of his bike. . When he is in traffic, Espargaró struggles to take advantage of the strengths of the RS-GP.
“The DNA of the Aprilia is to release the brakes and have good speed in curves, and you can do it when you are alone. That’s why we conduct sessions and can be very fast, but on Sunday it’s another story. You have to tighten the lines, pick up the bike and accelerate, overtake, fight… These are things where the Aprilia is not at the same level [que les autres] so we have to work on that.”
Aleix Espargaró
By Espargaró’s own admission, the team “don’t really know” how to correct the situation in the face of machines of certain brands, such as KTMs, which he judges intrinsically less efficient than its Aprilia but more able to make the difference in the race, which Brad Binder et Jack Miller proved at the Spanish GP: “I’m very happy to be very quick when we’re alone during practice, but it’s not just that. You have to be good on Sunday, you have to be aggressive.”
“For example, Brad [Binder] and KTM are way better than us at that. They are not fast on Friday and Saturday, they are very far from the Aprilia but they beat us every Sunday, so we have to figure out how to fix that. I think one of our biggest concerns is the feel on the front tyre. We have to do better, I can’t brake and tighten the lines like them. You also need a little more torque on the engine.
This front tire should be easier to manage in the Sarthe than in Andalucia since fairly cool temperatures, and possibly rain, are on the program this weekend. “If it’s dry it looks like it won’t be as hot as Jerez“, specified Espargaró, who also considers this situation more favorable to the aggressiveness of the pilots: “I think it’s good for the show because we all know the tire pressure and the temperature will be better here, if it’s not so hot. Overtaking will be better for everyone.”
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