Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaró matched his session-topping Saturday performance with more stunning pace as the Sepang MotoGP test concluded on Sunday.
Storming the RS-GP22 to the head of the standings on only his eighth lap of the final day, Espargaró was ultimately defeated to the unofficial fastest ever two-wheeled lap around the 5.5km layout by Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, but with a 1’58.157 lap on the board, the Spaniard was in bright spirits when rain stopped play.
“I was aiming for a 57 lap, but you know, we’re getting close to the limit,” Espargaró commented on Sunday evening. “I did a couple of mistakes and I was not able to go under ‘58. Anyway, we’ve been strong, after two days I think everybody’s equal.
“Everybody did many laps so we show today again that we are more or less on a good pace. Apart from the fast lap, I think the consistency during all day has been good. We show a good performance. The bike was not ready to do a full race simulation but I did 12 laps and the pace I think was not bad so I’m satisfied overall. We’re still comparing both chassis, I still have some doubts. So hopefully on Mandalika we’ll be able to compare again and see which is the best for the first race of the year.
“I think we have good team in Aprilia,” he continued on the team around him. “Not just with Maverick and myself but also with Lorenzo in the test team role. I think that the three riders, we are competitive. Apart from the speed we are showing, we are on the same line regarding the feelings with the RS-GP 22. We are working all three in the same direction which is always good and important for a factory. Today we had to work for the first time to see the temperatures of the engine, and the aerodynamics so we did a couple of laps together with Maverick and this is the goal.
“I said many times also when I was in Suzuki and now in Aprilia, the goal is not to beat your teammate until you are able to fight for the title.
“If one day the Aprilia is ready to fight, then Maverick will be my main rival but for the moment what we have to do is to work hard to be close to our rivals, to Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Ducati and then when we are closer to them, it’s going to be time enough to fight each other.
“We did many laps here in Malaysia, I think we show that the performance is quite okay. Again, this is just a test and every single factory is testing many new things. Especially after two years of frozen develop due to Covid. So everybody’s working hard and now is not the most important to be competitive. The only thing we can do right now is to compare with ourselves and we did one good step forward and this makes me happy.
“Now we are facing a new challenge. We are going to new track, to a new country. So let’s see how the RS-GP works in Mandalika and if we can confirm the step forward.”
