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“Everyone in the garage is happy and I think that when they wake up in Noale they will be happy there too”, Aleix Espargaró gave Aprilia a nice gift by finishing first on Friday at Phillip Island. This is a nice step forward for the RS-GP since the season start, “Eight months ago we struggled to stay in the top 10 and today we are here” the Spaniard smiles.
How do you feel after achieving this result?
“Happy, and I think that for Aprilia it is even more important than for me. I feel proud to be part of this project. I have never worked so hard in my entire career, both from a physical and mental point of view, but I can say the same for all the guys at the track and at home, everyone is giving it their all.”
And yet, you hadn’t started off well…
“This morning we had decided to use an engine with high mileage, but it didn’t have power. It felt like I was riding a Moto2 bike. The guys skipped lunch to replace it. Everything went better and I was able to do a good lap.”
Is everything working to perfection?
“Truthfully, I felt faster in other races, like in Aragón. Today I struggled where I did not expect to, on the faster corners. I couldn’t be as aggressive as usual, but it is also true that the track is in less than perfect conditions. It was cold and it was impossible to get the front tyre up to ideal temperature.”
You tested the RS-GP with and without spoilers. Which configuration do you prefer?
“The bike is more agile without. With the new fairing it because more physical in the direction changes, but also more stable. For the race, I think the latter configuration is the best one.”
Tomorrow it might rain….
“I hope not. The conditions were already difficult today. In fact, a lot of riders crashed. I want to work on improving pace. The medium tyre on the rear slides a lot. With the soft it’s better and we will need to try to use it for the race.”
Can you set your sights high?
“This year we are doing great things and I am happy to be part of this history, but there have already been other races where we could have taken home good results but then because of breakdowns or mistakes we were unable to close the deal. Right now it seems like only Marquez is able to be fast for a lot of laps, so we’ll see what happens.”
