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The "furnace" of the Chang International Circuit put the riders’ endurance to the test. With air temperatures above 30 degrees and a humidity level of 60%, today's event, over 26 laps, turned into an endurance race. There were those who paid the price like Maverick Vinales, who retired prematurely because he was physically knocked out. There were those who suffered the pains of hell, but with great determination, stubbornness and willpower were able to grit their teeth and get to the finish line. This was the case of Aleix Espargarò.
“Very tough race... the first part was quite good, although I was at my limit to keep up with the pacesetters. In the last laps our bike had reached intolerable temperatures - said the Aprilia rider - I couldn't breathe, I was out of air, I couldn't see well. I struggled to brake and to stay concentrated, I was in a panic. I have never felt so bad. As I was returning to the garage, I thought I was dying... a horrible feeling."
Within the Aprilia teams, not only did the # 41 suffer breathing difficulties: "Vinales retired and (Raul, ed.) Fernandez came close, both for the same reason".
Since the Buriram facility entered the MotoGP calendar, the extreme temperatures in the area immediately became a topic of debate: "We know, we have been struggling with the same problems for four years now (2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023, ed.). Similar story for India, even if in that case I had to retire because my engine gave up."
As well as the suffering, on the track Aleix maintained a solid fifth place from the attacks of Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez (before the race direction penalized him by three seconds for tyre pressure, relegating him to eighth): "The final result in itself reflects a bit of our season. We are also fifth in the championship and those ahead of us are very fast, they have a better package than us. I think Aprilia is not yet at their level."
Fernandez: “I was sweating cold in the last laps”
He was occupying a wonderful ninth position, close to established World Champions of the calibre of Marc Marquez and Fabio Quartararo, then came a vertical drop to fifteenth position. Raul Fernandez hoped to achieve, or at least replicate, the best result of his career in the premier class. An objective on paper that could have been achieved if the extreme environmental conditions of the race had not weakened him.
“You can't race like this... I was in a cold sweat in the last laps, I struggled to breathe, and I couldn't ride anymore - declared the CryptoDATA RNF Team Aprilia rider - I'm disappointed, up until that moment I was running my best race ever in MotoGP. In front of me I could see the podium area not too far away, but at the end it felt like I had a fan in front of me that was blowing 50 degrees of heat. I started going very slowly, I only stayed on the track to gain some points. Otherwise, I would have retired."
A similar episode had already occurred during the Indian GP: "Then I was lucky because I was behind only one bike, but today I had many in front of me and was in the middle of the group."
An aspect to take into serious consideration in view of the next Malaysian GP, a geographical area characterized by an equatorial climate and extreme temperatures: “It will be a big problem for Sepang. When we find ourselves in the slipstream of another rider, the bike becomes incandescent. This condition put both Aleix (Espargarò, ed.) and Maverick (Vinales, ed.) in difficulty, yet both are two of the best prepared riders in MotoGP."
