Aleix Espargaro: 'Really stupid day, better to stay home with Netflix'

Aleix Espargaro missed out on valuable track-time after crashing at turn 12, while wet conditions throughout Saturday added to the Aprilia rider's misery as dry running was at a premium on the penultimate day of MotoGP testing in Sepang.

Robert Jones

11 Feb 2023

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia MotoGP Sepang 2023

Way down the order following a very promising day one of the Sepang MotoGP Test, Espargaro was left disappointed after a turn 12 crash meant he was on the backfoot compared to his rivals.

Espargaro eventually finished the day in 20th place as Ducati once again topped the timingsheets courtesy of Jorge Martin.

“Really stupid day,” said Espargaro. “It’s a day that’s better to stay at home with Netflix because unfortunately the track took time to dry and when the track dried I went out and was coming really fast with a 1m 58s, but I crashed in turn 12.

“I had a problem with the brakes. I had no brakes and a couple of vibrations in the braking [zone] before corner 12. Then I was wide and I just lost the front.

“When the mechanics finished the bike I went back out, one lap, then it started to rain again. We lost a lot of time today, unfortunately.

“We had a lot of aerodynamic stuff to try but we couldn’t do that due to the conditions today.”

What is a good sign for Espargaro and Aprilia is the level of performance they’ve shown when able to put several stints together in dry conditions.

A lighter chassis and a slightly faster engine are the words Espargaro used to describe the 2023 RS-GP, with the Spaniard now keen to make up for lost time on Sunday.

Aleix Espargaro, Sepang MotoGP test, 10 February

Espargaro said: "The bike is slightly better in many small details. The chassis is a little bit lighter due to the aero and the engine is a tiny bit faster so everywhere is a little bit better.

"But I’m not sure it’s going to be enough. They told me that racing engines will be one step more competitive.

"They are on the dyno already and working quite good. After the Ducatis we are quite good but all the Ducati riders are really good."

Although Maverick Vinales was only two places higher up the order than Espargaro, the former Yamaha rider was pleased with his day after putting in work on the new aero parts.

It means Vinales can focus the final day towards extracting as much raw speed from his Aprilia as possible.

Vinales added: "Not much to say. Only we got information which is important. We made the job that you need to make with used tyres but I didn’t put a good set [of tyres].

"I’m happy because the job we needed to maybe do tomorrow, we did today, so tomorrow I can concentrate on riding and see the speed we have."