MotoGP Jerez: Aleix Espargaro after poor starts cost him shot at victory: “I can’t be happy”

Aleix Espargaro admits he was aiming for a better result than fifth after claiming his first MotoGP pole of the season at Jerez, however, ‘really bad feelings’ when following his rivals cost him dearly.
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia MotoGP Jerez 2023
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia MotoGP Jerez 2023

Espargaro, who was fifth at the time of his Sprint race crash, had four opportunities to keep hold of the lead due to red flags in both races resulting in the Sprint and Grand Prix to be restarted with the original grid🥂 positions. 

But on all four occasions Espargaro was passed by both factory 𒁃KTM riders Brad Binder and Jack Miller, while Jorge Martin was also able to pass the Aprilia man into turn one seve🌞ral times.

But once he fell behind his competitors, Esp👍argaro made very little progress as his feeling with the RS-GP23 was completely different to that of riding alone.  

Espargaro told : "I can’t be happy with fifth place. Last year, here, I achieved a podium and achi♚eved the pole position yesterday. I was aiming for a better result. We have to improve on Sunday. 

"The bike, when I’m riding alone in the practices, is very goodꦜ, very competitive, very fast and has good stability. But when I’m in the mix fighting with the other bikes I can’t stop the bike and I don’t know why. 

"I have really bad feelin𝓰gs and I lose the front every time I try to get🍌 closer to the other riders to attempt and overtake. 

"I don’t really have a solution so we need t🦋o try and understand as soon as possible."

Espargaro sees KTM’s advantages after double Jerez MotoGP podium

Binder and Miller were two of the best riders throughout the Spanish MotoGP round as they stood on the po🃏dium during both races.

Binder’s best result was victory in the Sprint, his second win of the 🌠season after winning 🦩in Argentina, while Miller was third on both occasions.

Brad Binder, MotoGP race, Spanish MotoGP, 30 April
Brad Binder, MotoGP race, Spanish MotoGP, 30 April

And afte⛄r following both riders for much of the two races, Espargaro claimed he was unable to ride the way Binder and Miller could which caus﷽ed one of the problems he had when trying to overtake.

Espargaro added: "When I’m alone it’s a little bit easier. I can stop the b♋ike whenever I want and I can do my lines. Normally my line is not lꦡike KTM. 

"I can’t brake deep like them and then re-accelerate. It’s more about flowಌing and corner speed. 

"Anyway, I can do my lines and go fast but when I get close to other bikes everything is a lot w🍃orse🔯."

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