MotoGP: One of the most ‘physically demanding races’ for Aleix Espargaro at Sepang

Gresini Racing Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was once again the sole point-score for the Noale manufacturer in MotoGP, having put in another strong race and a fight back worth shouting about. The Spaniard was pushed out wide at turn one and was forced to make up a lot of positions throughout the race.

Starting badly, Aleix Espargaro finished the first lap down in 17th position but fought on hard through  the field in tough riding conditions. The popular Spaniard, from Barcelona, got to 13th place before a battle ensued with brother, Pol Espargaro. On lap 16, Aleix got the better of his brother and was then promoted up to 11th with Valentino Rossi’s crash at turn one.

Whilst not the most thrilling of results for Aprilia – who achieved a best of 7th at the circuit with Alvaro Bautista in 2016 and a 10th in 2015 with Stefan Bradl – the race shows that the bike is developing in the right way with Aleix Espargaro.

“This was certainly one of the three most physically demanding races of my entire career. I started very badly and lost a lot of positions on the first turn, so I had to make up ground. After a few passes, a gap formed behind my brother, Pol. I managed to overtake him after a good battle,” said Aleix, who is 15th in the championship with 44 points.

“At that point, I was making up ground on the tenth place rider, but there were only a few laps left. Today’s result is positive, but we want to do more and we know we can, so we need to keep working and preparing our 2019 season as best we can.”

Espargaro can get as high as 14th in the championship, with just six point separating him with Franco Morbidelli. However, it is unlikely that he will match or better his championship points tally from 2017, which was 62. He would need to finish now lower than 2nd place to make that happen – with Aprilia not even achieving a top five in MotoGP yet, since their comeback in 2015.