RiderTua.com – Aleix Espargaro finished the 2024 Qatar GP in 8th place, although several people including Marc Marquez made him the favorite. The Spaniard congratulated Pecco Bagnaia and his technical staff. Aleix Espargaro is one of the favorites for victory ahead of the Losail GP, having finished third in the Sprint.
But the dream of a winning debut with the latest Aprilia RS-GP turned into a nightmare where their bike seemed to fail. According to him, the fault lies with the rear tires, there is already data available for Noale engineers to understand what really happened. The Portugal draw will give them a chance to turn the tide and keep reigning champions Pecco Bagnaia from dominating.
Aleix Espargaro: This is why Pecco is a champion
Finished eighth in Sunday’s race in Qatar, losing more than 11 seconds to the winner. The Spaniard was expecting a very different result, until the day before he had given the impression of victory if only the Sprint race had been added one lap longer. Like Marc Marquez…Jorge Martin also made Espargaro the favorite to win Sunday’s race. But for Aprilia, everything went wrong from the warm-up session, when he realized something was wrong with the Michelin rear tire. In contrast to the previous day, Aleix had no grip.. “I don’t have much explanation… I’m not at all happy with the performance of the rear tyre, something happened, it’s not normal to lose 11 seconds with the speed we showed in the Sprint. We have to work with team and Michelin to understand what happened.”
Despite experiencing problems on Sunday, the Aprilia rider did not lose his optimism and his spirits remained high. He did not hide that what happened at Losail was a missed opportunity, because he lost so many points. Aleix is still excited because it is only the start of the season, and sixth place in the championship is not a problem, he said..
His fiercest rival, Pecco Bagnaia, remained at the front, with Ducati once again seemingly having no problems, and when he did, he quickly managed to resolve them. Aleix could only congratulate the #1 rider who had done a great race, surprised by the step forward Pecco made compared to Saturday. Aleix found it very difficult to understand the difference in performance from yesterday to today, both his and Pecco’s, “I don’t know how he can improve that much. I always say it, I admire the way he works and prepares. On Sunday he was always at the front, when he needed to be there he was there. Chapeau, that’s why he was world champion.”
