Buriram (Thailand), 6 October 2019 - As confirmation of the progress demonstrated in recent races, Aleix Espargaró had one of his best rounds on the RS-GP during a weekend where he was always fast and consistent on a track that is traditionally difficult for the Aprilias.
Aleix started well, moving into tenth place, battling with Petrucci and keeping the groups dueling for the positions from fourth to eighth in sight. However, during the eighteenth lap, he had to return to pit lane for a problem, probably of an electronic nature (the team is currently investigating) which slowed down his bike. Along with the disappointment, the satisfaction remains for a weekend that highlighted a clear improvement for the bike from Noale.
Andrea Iannone also had a weekend that demonstrated more than one positive sign. Not helped by his pace in the less flowing sectors, he finished fifteenth and in the points at the end of a race where he battled with Crutchlow and Oliveira before yielding fourteenth place to Miller, just in the final stages.
ALEIX ESPARGARO' (bike no. 41): "This weekend, we basically worked perfectly. On what may be the most difficult track for us, we found a good setting which let me battle with Petrucci without losing sight of the group ahead of us.
Unfortunately, nine laps from the end, an electronic problem forced me to stop when we had the chance to bring home a good result. Evidently, luck is not on our side this year, but in the last few races, we have demonstrated that we can take advantage of the RS-GP at the limit."
ANDREA IANNONE (bike no. 29): "I’m not pleased with the race. I struggled from the first lap in the initial part of the track. When I am in a slipstream, I'm able to limit the damage, but the lack of speed forces me to ride in a way that is less than ideal.
This triggers a series of other problems, like stress to the front tyre or an increase of the temperatures, so it is an extremely limiting factor.
At the moment, this is our biggest problem. I expect Aprilia to keep working to solve it. On my part, when I got out on the track, I will always be giving 100%."
INFO: www.aprilia.com
