Aleix Espargaro Explains Reasons Behind "Worst Race Of Career"
Categories: MotoGP
In the rain of Termas de Rio Hondo Aleix Espargaro lags behind. The Spaniard explains what gave him a hard time on the Aprilia.
Having celebrated his first MotoGP victory on the same track last year, Aleix Espargaro traveled to Termas de Rio Hondo with high expectations.
In a wet race in Argentina, however, both Aprilia factory riders, he and his teammate Maverick Vinales disappointed.
While Espargaro made a leap to fifth place on the first lap, he was eaten up by his rivals in the remainder of the race.
“I couldn’t open the throttle, not even on the straight. The rear wheel was spinning all the time, I had to shift up the gears well before I got to the rev limit,” complains the Aprilia ace. “It was one of my worst races and one of the longest ones to boot.”
Ultimately, Espargaro suspects a lack of mechanical grip. During the race, however, he said he kept questioning the rear tire.
“In some moments of the race I thought I had a flat rear tire. The mechanical grip wasn’t bad, but we just have to figure out what specifically was the problem.”
“Sometimes the mechanical grip causes the problems with the electronics and sometimes it’s the other way around.”
“We still have to figure that out. But I think it was more the mechanical grip, the bike didn’t dive properly either.”
In the end, the older Espargaro brother did not get beyond a 15th-place finish. The Spaniard had to cope with a hefty gap of more than 36 seconds to race winner Marco Bezzecchi.
