| | Biker News - Regularly updated
Category: Moto GP
-
SOLID PERFORMANCE AND SIXTH PLACE FOR ALEIX ESPARGARÓ IN PORTUGAL
LORENZO SAVADORI CONTINUES TO IMPROVE AND EARNS HIS FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
THE APRILIA RS-GP, PUT TO THE TEST AFTER THE GOOD START IN QATAR, CONFIRMS ITS STATUS AS A GROWING PROJECT
Aleix Espargaró rode his Aprilia RS-GP to a sixth-place finish in the Portuguese GP, held on the Portimão track, keeping the gaps to a minimum: just over 8 seconds behind the winner and less than 4 from the podium.
It is a nice result that represents his third top-ten finish in the first three races. Never before had Aleix started a championship this well with Aprilia, so much that he is lying sixth in the overall standings. And the result could have been even better, but after a warm-up session where he had demonstrated a better pace than the one he had during the race, number 41 had to reckon with the highest heat of the weekend which conditioned the performance of the medium tyre chosen for the rear.
Aleix and Aprilia were put to the test after the good performance in Qatar and the RS-GP confirmed its status as an outstanding and growing project, while Aleix demonstrated great skill managing the race, in spite of the unexpected difficulties he had to face.
There is good news from the other side of the garage as well, confirming the improvements seen throughout the weekend and, thanks in part to a few crashes, Lorenzo Savadori earned his first championship points, finishing 14th.
ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"After the warm-up session where I had started on a used tyre and felt very good, I may have expected something more from this race. But we mustn’t forget the path that has brought us this far, battling in the leading group three races in a row, with speed and without mistakes. To be even more incisive, I was lacking a bit of grip at the rear, with the asphalt 20 degrees hotter than this morning, maybe choosing the hard tyre wouldn’t have been such a gamble. Without ever testing it thoroughly during the weekend, we didn’t feel confident enough and, all things considered, we continue demonstrating our value anyway. I am having more fun than ever in the saddle. I'm stoked and I can’t wait to get back on the track to see what satisfaction we’ll be able to take home next."
LORENZO SAVADORI
"My first points in the MotoGP World Championship are certainly an important detail, but the experience I continue to build race after race is worth more than anything else. Our goal is still to reduce the gap behind the leaders, as well as behind my teammate, and the results will come as a result. I lost a lot of ground in the early stages of the race today. My difficulties braking and cornering are accentuated with a full tank, whereas I was then able to maintain a pace similar to the group ahead of me."
-
Team Indonesian E-Racing Gresini MotoE were hard at work at Jerez de la Frontera in an intense three-day test in which had its challenges – especially on the second day, with the overall results being far from ideal.
The two standard bearers of Gresini Racing in the category have set almost identical times (1’48.701secs for Ferrari, with Mantovani only 0.061s away), but both were quite distant from the top of the timesheets as Granado and Aegerter turned out to be more than one and a half seconds faster.
It’s hard to imagine the 2019 MotoE World Cup title winner and 2020 runner up at ease ni this situation, while Andrea Mantovani continue his familiarisation in the series ‘in his teammate’s slipstream’. For both riders, the perfect feeling is yet to be found, but there will be more time to make it happen in the opening round of the season, which gets underway 15 days from now at the same track.
-
A new and important partnership has come into place for Gresini Racing, who from the 2021 will be counting on GTEC Europe in the MotoE class. This is a natural combination between the Gresini-ran green team and GTEC, a leading tech company in the uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) sector that has always been committed to sustainability and energy saving.
The GTEC brand will be present on the sleeves of the leathers of Matteo Ferrari – the first-ever MotoE World Cup champion and current runner-up in the series, and of Andrea Mantovani, a new arrival in the Gresini family as well as in the class.
GTEC will start the adventure in the World Cup as technical sponsor of Team Gresini MotoE, with the goal of increasing this partnership from 2022 already. The next stop for the MotoE class will be on April 12-14 at Jerez de la Frontera for the second and last test of the year.
-
The impressive speed demonstrated in the first part of the race, as the second best race fast lap will testify, is the umpteenth positive sign for Aleix and Aprilia. During a race which was, on average, faster than the one last week, the RS-GP confirmed its potential and, in Aleix’s able hands, crossed the finish line with an even narrower gap behind the leader (5.382 seconds). Only some difficulties with top speed which prevented the possibility of overtaking forced Espargaró to what was, in any case, a brilliant top-10 finish. This is a result that lets him leave Qatar in eighth place for the riders championship, whereas Aprilia is fourth in the manufacturer championship.
Lorenzo Savadori, although still far from his teammate’s performance, demonstrated a decidedly more competitive pace than last week. The reference gap behind the winner drops to around 10 seconds, whereas the Italian rider’s experience increases with the demanding MotoGP bike.
ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"I cannot be happy with my position because I believe we deserved better. The new RS-GP works well. Acceleration is spectacular and I'm able to push in braking. The only place we suffered today was on the straight. When I was behind the Ducatis, I had more grip than they did, but I am unable to overtake them. It’s a pity, but from what I could see in these two races, when we get to the European circuits, I'm sure we’ll be able to have some fun."
LORENZO SAVADORI
"I am looking at the positive sides of this race. My shoulder, although not perfect, is improving constantly, and I should be able to forget about that problem when we arrive in Portimão. I was about 10 seconds faster than last Sunday, even with the fact that I had to do a little fuel saving on the last 5 laps. There is still a lot of work to do, but I can’t wait to race in Portimão, a track that I know well, and with the experience I’ve gained from this season start."
-
THE SECOND ROW SLIPS THROUGH HIS FINGERS BY 51 THOUSANDTHS BUT QUALIFIERS ARE GOOD FOR ALEIX IN QATAR
As always in MotoGP, the numbers are the only objective value on which to base any analysis. And in the case of Aleix and his Aprilia, the results are positive all around. Despite a slower track than last week, with slightly unfavourable grip conditions, Aleix maintained good consistency in terms of pace which, thanks to the times he did yesterday, meant he could afford to concentrate his work on tomorrow’s 22 laps. Things got off on the right track straight away in qualifying, with Aleix putting an outstanding time on the boards on his first try. With the second new tyre, a few small mistakes kept him from taking home a spot on the second row which seemed well within his potential, slipping through his fingers under the chequered flag by just 51 thousandths. The Spanish rider will start from the seventh spot on the grid tomorrow.
Lorenzo Savadori is still struggling, especially on his time attacks. Penalised by his unfamiliarity with the new bike and the category, Lorenzo still demonstrated progress. Especially in terms of pace, as shown by his best time in FP4 (1'56.421), more than three tenths faster than his times here a week ago.
ALEIX ESPARGARO'
"I am generally pleased with the way we worked this weekend. In spite of a rather different track from last week, with less grip, I feel, if it’s possible, even more comfortable astride the RS-GP. I don’t know what to expect from the race, but we’ll be in the mix. Our pace has been consistently in line with the leading group. The only slightly disappointing thing is not having done better in qualifying. I exploited the first tyre well, but with the second, I made a few mistakes and it wasn’t the lap I wanted."
LORENZO SAVADORI
"The thing that caused me the most problems, especially today, was the wind. The track was in very complicated conditions and in qualifying, for example, I was on a good time until the third sector but then I lost half a second in the last few fast corners. I still don't have full confidence with the bike and tyres and having a variable like the wind doesn't help. Tomorrow in the race I hope the shoulder will respond better than last week and allow me to maintain my pace".
|
