The disappointment of Aleix Espargarò
In the Sprint race on Saturday it had been Alex Espargaro to bring the Aprilia RS-GP to the top, battling for the podium and then finishing fourth, while on Sunday he was Maverick Vinales to stay in the leading group, while Aleix crashed at turn 12 after a good start. for me it would have been special to conquer a podium that was within our reach. After all the difficulties we’ve always encountered at COTA, this weekend I showed surprising potential”. After the first three GPs he took stock: “This start to the season has been disappointing above all because I’m sure I’m riding better than last year, but for one reason or another we’re not getting what we deserve. We hope to reverse course already from Jerez, because the potential is clear”.
A positive GP, even without a podium
Vinales, after making a mistake at the start on Saturday, ran a different type of race on Sunday, staying with the protagonists with grit and decision. Despite having lost the right side of the wing. The result can only be positive and Vinales admitted: “I’m very happy. It was a very fast race and I always rode fast, recovering many positions. We’ll have to improve the start though, because there’s no doubt that if we could stay ahead in the early stages of the race our results would be even better! We have speed and this is very important, with this bike I feel very strong even when I have to fight in battles with the other riders, so much so that in the race I was able to make many overtaking moves and to be effective even when braking despite lacking the right side of the wing. We are faster than I expected, after three races I am in a good position in the standings and we go to Jerez confident”.
Here is the 2023 calendar of the top class and the championship standings.