Tough battle for Aprilia Racing at Silverstone

ESPARGARÓ IS THE FIRST APRILIA TO FINISH ACROSS THE LINE IN SIXTH, VIÑALES THIRTEENTH

Aleix Espargaró repeated his performance from the start of the sprint race, moving into the top three for several laps. Nevertheless, at the mid-race point, rear tyre wear compromised grip, causing him to drop several positions until finishing sixth when the chequered flag came out. In any case, it was a historic day for Aleix who raced his 329th Grand Prix at Silverstone, which places him third all-time behind Valentino Rossi (432 races) and Andrea Dovizioso (346 races).

Maverick Viñales encountered similar problems. Starting from the eighth spot on the grid, he began to struggle with rear tyre wear after seven laps and was forced to settle for a thirteenth-place finish.

ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
“This race reminded me very much of the Barcelona race. I tried to give one hundred percent and I think I rode at a rather high level, but the rear tyre wear penalized me. I tried everything to limit the damage, but it wasn’t enough. It’s a pity because I had a solid weekend, with pole position and the podium finish in the sprint race.”  

MAVERICK VIÑALES
“In the last four races, we have had truly high rear tyre wear and from the seventh lap here, I had no more grip. The only thing I could do was to try to finish the race. We need to work on improving the second part of the race.”

MASSIMO RIVOLA
“First of all, congratulations to Aleix for his 329 Grand Prix races. As for the race, managing rear tyre wear continues to be a challenge for us. Aprilia confirmed that we are fast at Silverstone, as Espargaró’s record lap in qualifying and in the race demonstrate, but over the long distance, we were not competitive. Expectations were high for Maverick as well, but unfortunately, we were unable to pull out our best.”