2023 still victorious, no Aprilia finishes in the top 5 in the MotoGP race at Silverstone this time – high degradation on the rear wheel slows down Espargaro and Vinales
Last year, Aleix Espargaro triumphed at the British Grand Prix, winning the MotoGP race at Silverstone from twelfth on the grid. This year, despite pole position, he only managed sixth place. The Aprilia rider was no match for the Ducati armada
Although Espargaro was able to keep up quite well in the first half of the race and was in third place for a long time, he was then caught by the eventual race winner Enea Bastianini as well as Marc Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio.
“It’s difficult to find an explanation,” said the Aprilia rider. “I think we did a solid job over the weekend. We set a track record on Saturday and a lap record on race day. But in terms of rear tire management, I couldn’t do much.”
“It was very frustrating to be overtaken by one Ducati after another. But there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to play with the electronics, with the engine brake, the traction control, but it was no longer possible. “
Espargaro: Hard front tire the right choice
The fact that he was only one of two riders in the field to choose the hard front tire was not the problem, but the solution. “It was brave, but it paid off because it allowed me to make up a lot of time on the brakes,” explained Espargaro.
“The problem is the rear tire. I can’t do anything against them with it. With the soft rear tire they seem to have a limit, which is why we can be closer in the sprint. But with the harder tire, they have a lot of traction and that makes it difficult to fight with them.”
“This is obviously very frustrating,” admits the Spaniard. “I drove really well this weekend, didn’t make any mistakes and was always close to the limit. Going home in sixth place is pretty frustrating. “
“But there are days when more is simply not possible. The difference to the other Aprilias, to KTM, to Yamaha, to Honda is still huge. I was the only one who was able to fight with the Ducatis, at least some of the time.”
As far as the aero update that Aprilia brought to Silverstone is concerned, Espargaro is correspondingly satisfied. It makes the RS-GP more agile and a little less physical.
“Silverstone is not really physically challenging. But on Saturday I spoke to Enea and Jorge (Martin) after the podium and they were a bit tired, but I was not. And even now after the race I feel the same as before. So it’s definitely something that helps us. “
Vinales: Tire degradation on the rear wheel not normal
Espargara’s team-mate Maverick Vinales finished the race at Silverstone in 13th place after finishing eighth in the sprint. “The result is difficult to accept because we were obviously aiming for more,” said the disappointed Aprilia rider.
“We have to understand that we are simply missing something. The tire degradation on the rear wheel is not normal. So we have to understand why we have not been at the level we should be in the last four races.”
“It’s true that I was sometimes still able to fight in the sprint. But as soon as we put on the medium rear tire, we could only manage and were not really strong. The factory has to act to reverse the situation, because it’s getting worse and worse,” warned the Spaniard.
The rear tire was completely finished after just six laps, Vinales continued. “My pace dropped from 1:59 to 2:01. We have to understand what causes this tire wear. Because spinning was not the problem.”
“It looks like we have lost the way to be competitive. I don’t think Ducati has improved that much. I think we have slowed down. After qualifying it looked like Aleix was going to win the sprint and the race. And you can see what came out in the end.”
Incidentally, Vinales did not use the new aerodynamics at Silverstone – unlike Espargaro and the trackhouse riders. “I felt strange things with it, so I wanted to wait until Austria to understand it better. “
