Aleix Espargaro “welcomes” difficult 2024 Aprilia: “Important thing is we are faster”
Ale♔ix Espargaro doesn’t care that the 2024 Aprilia RS-GP is ‘difficult’ to ride: ‘The important thing is that we are faster’.
168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Aleix Espargaro says he doesn’t care that the raft🔯 of aerodynamic updates for the 2024 Aprilia MotoGP machine make it more '♚difficult' to ride.
A๊ll that matters💦 to the Spaniard is how fast it is.
And having been the top non-Ducati with fifth at the Sepang test, then third in Qatar -ౠ when he also set a searing Sprint simulation until a fall - Espargaro is giving the new machine a warm welcome.
“It’s not an easy bike. I would say the 2024 is one of the most difficult I have had to ride, but at the same time it is more competitive. So, welꦕcome!” he smiled.
By difficult, Espargaro means th♉at, “Due to the downforc⛦e the bike is quite heavy.
"I don’t know if heavy is the right word, but to change direction and to throw t🌳he bike in [to the corners], sometimes if you don’t have the right grip then you have to force it so much.
“So it is not easy to understand how to do 💯it, but at the end of the day, the important t🌜hing is that we are faster.
“I’m super-happy," he added. "It is just testing but I am enjoying a lot t💛his year. I really like the ’24 spec bike. Malaysia and Qatar are completely different circuits, completely different grip and I’m fast.
“For the time attack I nꦇeed to im♍prove a bit but in terms of pace with used tyres I’m very strong.”
Espargaro explained that it’s difficult to pinpoint one specific area of progress, but: “The [static] weight of the bike is a bit less. The rigidity of the chassis is a☂ bit different. The aerodynamics is completely different.
“Everything has been updaജted but the aerodynamics is obviously the biggest thing you can see.
“Especially in terms of stability, the bike has improved a lot. A lot. With used tyres it is a lot easier to maintain the lap time so this is very good. Just sometimes when there is not a lot of grip, it is difficult to understand how to ride th⛦e bike because you have to force it a l꧑ot more.”
Otherwise, Espargaro’s only technical 🦹concern is engine performance, while it remains to be seen how the ’24 RS-GP will perform in a 'real' race situation.
But as te﷽sting concluded it was a case so far, so good.
“If you are fast frꦍom the beginning on two completely different tracks [Sepang and Qatar] then this is positive. They don’t give points for testing but it is always important to feel good.”
Th📖e season-opening Qatar Grand Prix starts on Friday.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has🎃 seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
