This Saturday, September 18, 2021, Aleix Espargaró answered questions from journalists from the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, at the end of the second day of the Gran Premio Octo di San Marino and the Riviera di Rimini.
We went to listen (via teleconference software) to the words of the Spanish driver, who posted the eighth fastest time in qualifying.
As usual, we report here the words of Aleix Espargaró without the slightest formatting.
Aleix, just after FP3 the ranking seemed to indicate that you were going to have to participate in Q1 first. But in the end that was not the case and you were transferred directly to Q2. Can you explain to us what happened?
They [la Direction de course] made a mistake. My team went to see them to show them the pictures and they admitted their mistake and apologized. They thought I had my best time when Danilo Petrucci or Iker Lecuona crashed, but it was not in this lap. On my best lap there were just no yellow flags.
How was your day?
I’m not completely satisfied in the sense that I don’t have the speed that I had in the last two races, but at the same time when I look at where we are I am still optimistic for tomorrow because since yesterday we have made good progress. I was able to try the hard tire during FP4 and I had a good feeling. My pace is not bad. I made a small mistake in qualifying when I crashed, but I’m still happy because we’re ready for tomorrow and we’re not far from the best.
When you say you’re ready, does that mean ready to fight for a top 5 again?
I think the top 5 is playable. We will start from eighth position on the grid, but some drivers ahead of me have a slower pace. It will therefore be interesting, especially since the two pneumatic compounds at our disposal, the soft and the medium, work well. We could therefore witness a great race, not to mention the looming rain. We are ready to fight for the top 6. I think the podium is going to be difficult, but a top 6 place on this circuit should be playable.
What do you think of the work that Maverick Viñales has done so far? He qualified directly in Q2, which is already a nice little feat knowing that he is only in his second race with Aprilia…
For me this is not a surprise. I know how fast he is, and he was in testing two weeks ago here. He’s a good rider on a good bike, so it’s normal for him to be close to the front lines. I’m happy with that, because both Aprilias qualified straight away in Q2 in front of their Italian home crowd, and we’re in a good position to defend our interests tomorrow.
“Maverick? A good rider on a good motorcycle ”
Tomorrow will be the very first time that you will have a qualified teammate in the top 10. Do you think this can help you during the race?
I don’t think it’s going to change much for me. We will be able to collect more information I imagine, as was the case for example today during the FP4, when he rode with the soft tire and I with the medium. This will therefore make it easier for us to determine which tire is the best for tomorrow. Overall it’s obviously good to have a competitive teammate. But the fact is that in the race there is no longer necessarily the notion of a teammate, because we give everything we have to get the best possible result.
“In the race, there is no notion of a teammate”
MotoGP Misano – The grille: 
Ranking credit: MotoGP.com
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