Difficult sprint race for Aprilia Racing at MotorLand Aragón

ESPARGARÓ CRASHES OUT ON THE FIRST LAP, VIÑALES NINETEENTH, OLIVEIRA FIFTH – THE BEST APRILIA ACROSS THE LINE

The good sensations Aprilia Racing had on Friday, with all four bikes in Q2 for the first time in MotoGP, were not confirmed on Saturday, partly due to the track conditions – dirty and with poor grip because of the sand that the overnight rainfall brought.
 
Aleix Espargaró finished Q2 in eleventh place, conditioned by the precarious grip. At the start of the sprint race,  the Spanish rider lost traction, starting from the dirtier side of the track,  and was unable to stop at the first turn, ending up in the gravel. Luckily, he did not suffer any serious consequences.
 
It was also a complicated day for Maverick Viñales, who had qualified in the twelfth spot on the grid. After a difficult start,  the Spanish rider also struggled with the lack of grip on the track, and he was unable to express the same pace he had demonstrated on Friday. Viñales finished the sprint race nineteenth.

ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
“On Friday, with the track in good conditions, we had much more traction, but with the dirty track during Q2, the bike skidded around a lot. At the start, the rear wheel slid because the left side of the track was particularly dirty. That relegated me to the back of the group, and when I braked at the first turn, the front locked up and I crashed.”

MAVERICK VIÑALES
“It felt like I was going to crash on every corner and I couldn't lean all the way into the turns. We need to figure out what changed from Friday. The track conditions obviously changed and there wasn't much grip, but I don't understand why the tyres didn't work as they should have. It was like riding in the wet."

ROMANO ALBESIANO
“The dirty track and the extremely low traction demonstrated how our bike is still too dependent on grip conditions. We did demonstrate outstanding speed in practice,  but with precarious grip conditions, we struggled. Oliveira had the best performance, managing to adapt well and interpret track conditions. The long race will likely be difficult, since rain is forecast which will make the track even dirtier.”