Aleix Espargaró’s performance in qualifying was highly conditioned by the few laps done on Friday due to the crash during FP1. In spite of this, and less than optimum physical fitness, the Spanish rider finished Q1 fourteenth, missing access to Q2 by just one tenth of a second. In the sprint race, the Spaniard joined the group battling for the top ten, but a small mistake on turn 3 cost him a few positions, making him finish fifteenth.
Maverick Viñales, after a good Friday, struggled to find the same feeling in qualifying, finishing tenth. In the sprint race, a few mistakes compromised his performance, causing him to finish the race twentieth.
It was a complicated day because I didn’t lap a lot on Friday, so I struggled. Physically, I’m not at 100%, I am still in pain. I was unable to go through to Q2, but I still did a fast time. The sprint race was going well, but as I was coming back in eleventh place, I made a small mistake on turn 3 and lost several positions.
When I’m in the group, I have trouble braking well. I went long several times on turn 3. It was a complicated weekend, because there is no grip and that has a negative impact on the way the bike performs. We’ll try to battle to the end and collect as many points as we can.
It was a difficult day and Aleix’s physical condition certainly did not help. It is clear that we are going through a complex stage. Even going back to solutions that had worked well at the beginning of the season did not solve some of the problems, especially in race management. We need to keep working and bring something more effective to the long race. Being able to manage the overtaking, slipstreams and group battle phases is fundamental and these are aspects which are giving us troubles at the moment.
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