2024-08-29 17:20:00
Aleix Espargaró lands in Aragon looking forward to stepping on the podium again. The Catalan has not topped a single Sunday so far this year, although he has achieved excellent results in the Sprint Race on Saturday, with victory in Catalonia and podiums in Silverstone and Austria, confirming his doctor’s potential Aprilia family new tires.
Alcañiz is a track where Aleix has been fast in the past; Indeed, on his last visit to Aragon, The Catalan signed a third in 2022and he sees the potential to achieve big things before this weekend: “Why should it go wrong here? The last few grand prix being black and white, Silverstone and Austria, we made the podium in the last two Sprints, we know that the question is still pending on the degradation of the tires .On Sunday it tells us a lot compared to Ducati, but we are fast, and this track is more favorable than the last one.
Espargaró shows the decline of tires as “our unfinished business” to be competitive on Sunday, especially against the Ducati, motorcycles that manage wear and tear much better than the Michelins: “The problem is we don’t really know why. None of the Aprilias are able to maintain the pace in the second half of the race“rated #41 this Thursday.
In Austria, both Aleix and Maverick Viñales complained of various problems when stopping their motorcycles, something that “that’s not weird” according to Espargaró on tracks like the Red Bull Ringwhere the aerodynamic configuration of the RS-GP complicates the drivers ability to cool the brakes.
“There are circuits where you have to use the biggest discs according to regulations, when the technical regulations say something, you already have an idea of how much the brakes suffer there,” comment on the 35-year-old pilot. “On average, according to Brembo, I am one of the riders who raise the temperature of the brakes the most. And there (Austria) and in Japan, where I am behind many drivers, I run out of braking power. I can’t do anything, it’s frustrating. It’s not that you run out of brakes, but you lose 30% of the braking, so in MotoGP you can’t do anything.”
Thinking about 2025, Aleix was asked in Aragon the future arrival of Somkiat Chantra to the Honda LCR Team, a factory for which Espargaró will work as a tester next season. As for the Thai signing, the Spaniard has said as much “I’m excited, to be honest. When I signed with Honda, Alberto (Puig) and both the Japanese, they wanted me to be a team player, to help the drivers in any way I could. With Somkiat it is nice, because he is a young rider, without vices, very brave, and this is something that is missing in MotoGP and in Honda, and has none of the vices of other motorcycles. “It will be nice, it’s like a blank piece of paper.”
Chantra’s entry suggests an exit, that of Takaaki Nakagami, who will go on to collaborate with Honda in the development of the RC213V in Japan, combining this work with some savages, like Aleix. On this subject, the Catalan joked about who should race as a wild card at Honda from 2025: “I have signed some races, but if he wants to run them, I would be happy (laughs). I think Honda has two very good things. One is that you have enough budget to put the motorcycles you want on the road, and secondly that we have a lot of work. ‘Taka’ is more than welcome to stay.”
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Finally, Aleix wanted to point out that, for him, doing wild cards with Honda is not a priority, but he knows that his work as a test rider will force him to compete from time to time: “I have to run. Dani Pedrosa explained it very well two or three years ago, in his first wild card. There are things that you can only see like wild card, tire pressure, temperature, output devices… “If I have to run to try those things, I’ll run, but it’s not my goal or my desire,” ditch #41.
#brave #needed #MotoGP