Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro believes Ducati is able to make a “big difference” with its race and tyre management on Sundays after watching it lockout the top-five places in the British Grand Prix.
Espargaro had put in a stunning record-breaking lap in qualifying to take pole position for the Silverstone MotoGP sprint and grand prix, but he soon found out he had no chance of contending with the faster Ducatis on his Aprilia RS-GP, dropping to fourth at the start of the grand prix, behind three riders on the latest-spec GP24.
Although he did manage to repass Enea Bastianini with a move into Village on the third lap, it was an uphill battle to keep the Italian behind, and the factory Ducati rider had no trouble getting back ahead shortly after the halfway point of the race.
Espargaro also suffered a severe drop in tyre performance in the final stages of the 20-lap race, dropping behind even year-old GP23 bikes of Marc Marquez and Fabio di Gianantonio, to end 9.5s off the lead in sixth.
But the grand prix veteran feels his slump in Silverstone wasn’t just a reflection of Aprilia’s shortcomings in MotoGP, but also the pace Ducati has in hand over its rivals.
Espargaro was the only non-Ducati rider to finish inside the top eight on Sunday, as the Borgo Panigale marque managed to get all its eight bikes inside the top 10 for only the second time in history.
"As in Barcelona, I already warned on Friday that we need to improve in terms of race management because Ducati has made a huge step since last year," he said, referring to how he could only salvage fourth after scoring pole in the Catalan GP in May.
"This race was a clone of Barcelona, nine seconds behind the winner, after taking pole and the track record.
"But they [Ducati] have something more, they go very easy and on Sunday they make a big difference. They always have something more for Sunday. I destroy the tyre to go at their pace.
"If you look at today's classification, it speaks for itself. I was the only Aprilia among the Ducatis. The first eight bikes are Ducatis, all together. There's not much more to say."
Espargaro was among the only two riders on the grid to select the hard front tyre, despite the conditions getting cooler by the time the race started at 1pm local time in the UK.
This led to initial speculation that a poor tyre choice was the reason for his own problems, but Espargaro later clarified that the rear medium tyre was in fact the limiting factor for him.
The three-time grand prix winner revealed that he made more in-race adjustments on his bike than in any other race in MotoGP, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the tyre advantage enjoyed by his Ducati rivals.
"Today I had one of the best days of my racing career, he said. “I tried to manage everything I could with hard tyres to slow them down when braking.
“We took risks, we set a track record behind Jorge [Martin] and Pecco [Bagnaia], but there is a moment when I can't do any more so I have to improve.
"On the bike you are concentrated, today I set a record for changing maps, engine braking, power.
“I tried everything to minimise [the gap] as much as possible, but the truth is that it is quite frustrating.
“It is not right for me to say it but many riders who finished in front of the group today were quite a bit slower than us, but Ducati has made a big step with tyre management.”
