It was a very positive day for Aleix Espargaró, who secured fourth place in qualifying and regained his feel for the RS-GP24. After a strong start, the Spanish rider stayed at the front and maintained a solid pace throughout the sprint race, finishing third. This is Aleix’s fourth podium in the sprint and his second in a row after Silverstone.
On the other hand, Maverick Viñales faced a more challenging sprint. Starting from sixth on the grid, he had a difficult start that saw him drop back to fourteenth. Despite a strong effort to recover, the Spaniard could only finish eleventh.
Wildcard rider Lorenzo Savadori used the 14 laps of the sprint to test new technical solutions, finishing in eighteenth place. At the end of the day, Lorenzo recorded the best maximum speed in Q1, reaching 317.1km/h.
ALEIX ESPARGARÓ
“I am very happy; it was one of the best Saturdays since I joined Aprilia and one of the best in my career. At this track, I’ve always struggled with the brakes and even crashed twice on Friday, but we worked on the set-up and, from FP2, I started to feel better. In the sprint I gave it my all and stayed with the front group. I am very proud of my qualifying performance and the result in the sprint.”
MAVERICK VIÑALES
“It’s always difficult to start in the middle of the group, it makes it difficult to stop the bike, and the tyres and brakes tend to overheat. On the straight at the start, I had to avoid a contact with another rider, which made the sprint even more difficult.”
LORENZO SAVADORI
“It wasn’t bad at all, I only lost a few positions in the last part of the race. We’re very positive because some of the things we tested worked well. The long race will definitely be more challenging since I’m not at 100% and, especially in the last laps, I struggled physically. I’m happy to see Aprilia on the podium at a track that, on paper, wasn’t favourable.”
ROMANO ALBESIANO
“It was a good day at a particularly challenging track for us. Aleix delivered an excellent performance in both qualifying and the race. He worked very hard on his performance from Friday, even on used tyres, and we are very happy with the results. Unfortunately, Maverick also had good speed but was hampered by the start and the first few corners. Lorenzo also did an excellent job, working hard on some complex developments. Tomorrow, Lorenzo will continue with important tests for the future.”
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