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Category: Superbikes
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The first part of the season draws to a close at Assen with Alex Marquez back among the protagonists and in the higher part of the classification in today’s race. The Spanish rider was sixth at the finish line of an encounter characterised by high temperatures and marked by a long-lap penalty as he exceeded track limits. The #73 managed to score some important points with the championship standings that see him now 10th, only one point away from Quartararo.
Fabio Di Giannantonio’s race came to an early and in what was probably the best moment for the Italian rider, who was all the way down in 20th place at turn one; he managed to get back to ninth position and to get in a fierce battle with Nakagami. With eight laps left, the #49 lost the front at turn five and was forced to retire.
It is holiday time now for Team Gresini MotoGP who will be back in action with fresh energy in slightly more than a month at Silverstone, with one test at Misano with the Panigale scheduled for July 18-19.
6th - ALEX MARQUEZ #73 (10th in the championship standings with 63 points)
“We played our cards right: we solved some issues feeling-wise in the warm up and chose the softer tyre-option for the race, even though we knew we would have struggled in the second part of the encounter. After the 12th lap it was really challenging with the rear tyre, but we still managed to bag some important points and finish this first part of the season in a crescendo.”
DNF - FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49 (16th in the championship standings with 34 points)
“Too bad really, because we were having a great race, a bit like in Germany. It’s clear that we must improve at the start as we lose too much ground but we’re improving in every race and this time we could have battled for the seventh-eighth position easily. The crash shouldn’t have happened, but with such a performance we’re going on holiday with a smile.”
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ALEIX ESPARGARÓ TAKES APRILIA BACK TO THE PODIUM WITH A HEROIC RACE, RIDDEN ENTIRELY WITH THE BIKE MISSING A WINGLET, LOST IN THE EARLY STAGES
MAVERICK SUPER-FAST, ALREADY IN THE LEADING PACK FROM THE START, CRASHES OUT TO MISS OUT ON A RACE WHERE HE SURELY WOULD HAVE BEEN A PROTAGONIST
IMPORTANT POINTS FOR LORENZO SAVADORI WHO, FAST AND CONSISTENT, BATTLED ALL THE WAY TO THE END TRYING FOR A TOP-TEN FINISH
Aleix Espargaró puts Aprilia back on the MotoGP podium in the Assen race. And he does it his way, in true team captain style, battling like a lion even in the face of the misfortune which robbed his RS-GP of the front right winglet in the early stages of the race after contact on the first corner. With the bike unbalanced, Aleix never lost contact with the trio battling for the podium and, in the race finale, he defended against Martin’s attacks. So, by just a few thousandths and thanks to a penalty levied against Binder, he took home a well-deserved third place, just nineteen tenths behind the race winner.
Maverick also had an outstanding start and, super-fast, settled into sixth place overtaking Oliveira, Marini, and Miller. However, during the fourth lap, when he was staying close to the group which then went on to fight for the win and the podium, a crash excluded him from the race and from a certain role as protagonist. In any case, he is still taking home the outstanding sensations he had throughout the weekend and the good performance – both his and the bike’s – in situations that had proved to be difficult in the past, such as the race start.
It was a fantastic race for Lorenzo Savadori, the Aprilia Racing tester who rode in his second wild card of the season at Assen and who confirmed his outstanding performance from the sprint race yesterday in the full-length race today. He battled hard for a top-ten finish which he missed by just over a second, finishing eleventh and taking home another five points in the world championship, not to mention a lot of extra data for development of the RS-GP.
Aleix
“We deserve this! We have been working hard and we need to continue to do so. Today’s podium allows us to go on holiday with a bit more peace of mind. I started well but lost part of the front winglet straight away after contact with Marini. In fact, the bike moved around a lot and it wasn’t easy to maintain the pace. When I caught up with Brad, I tried to put him under pressure because overtaking was not at all easy. I knew he would be struggling in the finale with the soft tyre and, in fact, he was sliding around a lot and he touched the green. I’d like to dedicate this podium to everyone who works with me and to my family. This is not a simple sport and being surrounded by a good group of people is truly important.”
Maverick
“This is a weekend that leaves me happy, even with the race. I really started strong and braked extremely well at the first turn. I felt really strong on the bike, which was working quite well, so I pushed hard. I crashed because I lost the front end and that can happen if you decide to really have a go. Anyway, it’s all good. We need to continue looking for the limits, pushing the bike to the max, and this can happen. Our potential is clear and when we are able to exploit it, we can battle for the very top spots.”
Lorenzo
"It was undoubtedly a great weekend. On a track where we do not test, and with a lot of things to try, just missing a top-10 finish in such a close race is truly wonderful. It’s a shame about a small problem at mid-race that forced me to slow down, just when I was rather easily recovering to move into tenth place. But nothing can take away this performance that does a world of good for me and for Aprilia, demonstrating the quality of our hard work."
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ALEIX FOURTH AND JUST BEHIND THE LEADERS AFTER A GOOD SERIES OF OVERTAKES, MAVERICK SEVENTH ON A COMEBACK RIDE THANKS TO GOOD PACE, LORENZO FAST AND PRECISE
At the end of an unquestionably thrilling race, the factory Aprilia machines finished fourth with Aleix and in seventh place with Maverick. However, the tale of the sprint race in Assen would be incomplete without the events of the early stages after the start. A few brash manoeuvres by Zarco, who then also slowed Miguel Oliveira, negated Aleix and Maverick’s good starts, moving them away from the group battling for the podium and forcing them into a comeback ride.
Aleix, with precise and clean overtaking, soon moved into fifth place, then making up ground on the riders ahead of him. Once he reached them, despite a brilliant pace, the feeling with the front end kept him from completing another pass which, with Binder’s penalty, would have clinched a podium placement for him.
Maverick, who started very well from the third row, also had to widen his line on turn 1 and was then involved in the race start tussles. His comeback stopped at seventh place, but the pace he demonstrated when he was able to lap without having to battle is a great confidence booster for him in view of the race tomorrow.
Also worth a mention is the performance by Lorenzo Savadori, in Assen as a wild card. Battling against much more seasoned factory riders, the Italian took sixteenth place to his great satisfaction, making him optimistic for the race tomorrow.
Aleix
"It was a good race. I lost a bit of time at the start with Zarco. I think he was a little too aggressive, but we know that this can happen in the sprint race. I was able to recover quickly enough and then, once I reached the group battling for the podium, I struggled a bit with the feeling at the front. I may have been faster than them in certain points, but I didn’t have the margin to overtake them. I think in the long race tomorrow I’ll have more chances."
Maverick
"I’m pleased. It was a good race because we were fast and able to overtake well. When I was able to maintain my pace, I lapped around the 32 and a half mark, which is a pace that would let me make a play for the podium. I also had a good start, but I braked too hard on the first corner and got caught up in the mele which cost me positions, but then I recovered extremely well. Naturally, there are still some things we need to figure out to improve, but we have the pace to stay at the front."
Lorenzo
"I’m happy with my sprint race. We all started extremely aggressively, with knives in our teeth, and I lost a bit of ground with overtakes and counter-overtakes. In any case, I had fun. It’s great to battle with the fast factory riders. Our pace isn’t bad. In the race tomorrow, I hope to be able to take another step forward. We are testing some new details on the RS-GP and the ability to be fast is definitely positive."
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It was a disappointing Saturday afternoon for Team Gresini MotoGP, out of the battle for the top positions with both riders. Alex Marquez is ninth at the chequered flag and last rider in the points (also thanks to a penalty given to Marini during the last lap), while Fabio Di Giannantonio crashed out of the encounter after a few laps while trying a comeback.
The common (and negative) denominator for the riders #73 and #49 was the start. Both Gresini standard bearers lost four positions and were then forced to a comeback: this is not the ideal situation by any means, especially in a 13-lap race. The race pace is there, however, and so the ingredients to do a lot better tomorrow. The goal is a relaxed July and some smiley faces.
9th ALEX MARQUEZ #73
“Unfortunately, on the opening lap I had a first sector to forget. I got wrong everything I could get wrong from turns one to five and lost a lot of ground. We need something more feeling-wise, and we’ll work on that tomorrow during warm up. One point is better than nothing but it’s clear that we can and must aim at higher positions.”
DNF - FABIO DI GIANNANTONIO #49
“We need to improve at the start, this is clear. I immediately lost several places, but in only one lap I had already passed four riders… I was behind Nakagami with the pace to bridge the gap with the group battling for the points, but while entering turn 11 I lost control of the bike and spun around. A pity, but it’ll be a whole different story tomorrow.”
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It wasn’t the best of Sundays for Aprilia on the Sachsenring. After the difficulties encountered yesterday, Aleix and Maverick were unable to straighten out the German race weekend today.
Aleix and his team gambled on the soft rear tyre, partially in light of the data collected during the Sprint. It was, unfortunately, a gamble that did not pay off. Although he battled in the early stages of the race, the Spaniard had to reckon with a drastic drop in grip towards the end, finishing outside the points zone.
Maverick, on the other hand, had a technical problem that forced him to a DNF during the ninth lap.
Aleix
"I think that with the medium tyre, I would have been able to finish easily in the top 10. However, the data from the Sprint race yesterday seemed to indicate wear that was not too excessive for the soft and that’s why we decided to use it. The decision did not pay off. In the finale I basically had no grip. We were lacking in performance this weekend, as the results from the other Aprilias also shows, on a track where we did not expect to encounter these difficulties."
Maverick
"The weekend had started off well straight away but then we were unable to express our potential. If we work well, we know that we can be fast, but evidently there were some problems which conditioned our performance. We still don’t know if this stems from a problem with the engine that forced me to retire. We’ll analyse the data in-depth now and try to figure it out. It’s a shame but complaining won’t help anything. We still believe in the project and we’ll keep our heads down and continue to work hard. The positive note is that I recovered positions in both starts – yesterday in the Sprint race and today in the GP – so from this point of view there was improvement."
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