Aleix Espargaro finishes seventeenth in Austria after tyre degradation woes

An excellent start from the fifth row characterised the early stages of the race in Austria for Aleix Espargaró, especially effective in braking with his Aprilia RS-GP, so much that he was stably in the top 10 for the first 16 laps.

In the end however, the Spaniard suffered from deterioration of the rear tyre, losing positions until having to settle for a seventeenth place finish.

ALEIX ESPARGARO
“I had a good start and in the early part of the race I was fast. I rode to the limit, maybe a bit too much, to try and stay in the group battling for the top 10. I stressed the rear tyre a lot in order not to lose ground, but after 15 laps, I lost grip and it was impossible to fend off the attacks. We know what our problems are and we need to work to solve them. The early laps with a good level of competitiveness gave me confidence, but we need added effort to bridge the gap. We have testing scheduled in Misano with a lot of upgrades that the Aprilia engineers will be bringing. It will be a fundamental day that we’ll need to fully exploit.”