Aleix Espargaro is raring to get back to work after starting the 2022 MotoGP season challenging for podium contention on the Aprilia.
Positive performances at the recent test on Lombok Island provided the Spaniard with confidence in the newest addition to the Grand Prix calendar, but with questions over the resurfaced layout, new tyre allocation and the seemingly ever-rising temperatures, Mandalika is still very much an unknown for the RS-GP rider.
“Sincerely, I’m a little bit worried because I don’t know how will react the bike,” Espargaro explained on Thursday regarding the new tyres on offer from Michelin. “We did not use this casing from long time ago. The last time I used I think was Thailand and I don’t have really good memories. Obviously the bike was completely different but I remember that after lap ten, the bike start to spin even in fourth gear in the straight. I’m a little bit worried because it’s new tarmac also, that it wasn’t on the test and also the tyres are completely different. I don’t know what to expect sincerely.
“I can’t wait to ride tomorrow. I was very strong in the test. I finished P3 after three days and I was close to half-second under on my last lap, fast lap and I crashed so I have confidence in this circuit but many things have changed in the last month. So I don’t know how to expect.”
While Thursday saw temperatures on Lombok reaching into the mid-30’s, the ‘feels like’ translation sat at around 48℃, with the track surface hitting 65℃ and similar forecast for Friday’s afternoon practice. It’s a tough ask for the MotoGP machines across the weekend.
“And the riders!” Espargaro exclaimed. “The bikes, actually on my meeting today I said to my engineers that we have to try our best to make the bike cool. We have different procedures when it’s very, very hot weekend and a lot of small things that can make difference. This is what we’ll do, we’ll do our best but at the end they are machines with, I will say, quite small engine and 300 horsepower, which means it’s also not easy for the engine to breathe.
“I never felt a heat like today in Mandalika, is just insane. It’s crazy. We took 65 degrees on the tarmac, so I never saw something like that. So it’s going to be very very, very demanding for the bikes, for all of the material apart from the engine, also for the strength, the physical of the riders.
“Sincerely regarding the riders, I’m not really worried because I think I cannot train more, I cannot prepare better, so I did my best. We’ll see if it’s enough or not. I think more physically is better for me but regarding the bikes, it’s going to be tricky.
“It’s in the limit, in the limit,” he continued. “With more than 43/44 degrees, 65 in the ground, it starts to be dangerous for the bikes but also for the bodies of the riders. We cannot forget that. Apart from the ambient temperature, the bikes are very, very, very hot. We have also leather suit, in my case black one - very good for these conditions! So if you put everything in, is a nice cocktail!”
While the temperatures are extreme, the imposition of a safe limit is not something that has been discussed amongst the riders.
“No not really. I think that we really never face temperatures like this,” Espargaro explained. “I remember two years ago in Jerez after the lockdown, we’ve been more than 50 degrees track temperatures, was very, very hot. Actually, I think was Lecuona, he could not finish the race and stop due to the physical, and also in Thailand, I remember was very demanding but it’s our job. This is why we train. Not everybody in this world can ride a MotoGP. I think that if everybody would like or every rider would like to call us athletes, we have to prove it. So in some circuits it’s going to be very, very demanding. This is one of the cases and I hope it’s not going to be dangerous but we have to see how everything reacts tomorrow.
“You need to try to arrive in the best shape possible on Sunday,” he said of the weekend ahead. This means that your body needs to be prepared but at the same time the bike, the setting, everything, so you have to do your job. Maybe it’s not the best circuit to try a race simulation in FP4 but you need to deal with this. Is our job and we have to prepare the bikes. I trained very hard many hours at my home, is for days like this. Qatar was very easy, physically. We could do 100 consecutive laps if we had to but this one is a lot more tough and it’s also nice, I like a lot because it’s a challenge also for us.
“I like a lot to try to bring my body to the limit as an athlete. So let’s see, but at the same time I can say to you that is not far from the limit, the condition we have for example today. Is very, very, very hot and with the MotoGP is going to be tricky.”
One talking point, especially in regard to his current teammate recently, has been the importance of both physical and mental preparation ahead of the longest season in MotoGP history. It’s something the 32-year-old has placed importance on throughout his career.
“I’ve been working since my first year of championship,” Espargaro explained honestly. “I don’t like really to call them coach. I work with a psychologist, sporting one obviously, but I work with him since I’m 15 years old. Especially in 2018/19, I did many, many meetings with him via zoom and also went to Barcelona with him - he works in a university of sport. It helped me a lot. Now I don’t use regularly but every time I have some doubt, you don’t need to be bad or you don’t need to feel bad, sometimes you just need to understand how to change something or how to have different structure of something in your life. I talk with him and it’s really helpful because it gives you the point of view from other side and it helped me a lot.
“Is very, very, very, very important, actually. We are every time taking more care about our nutrition, about our physical conditions, but the head is the most important part of our body and the most powerful one and I really take care of it.”
