MotoGP: Espargaró reduced to tears by Suzuki frustrations

MotoGP racer Aleix Espargaró has candidly admitted that he was at times reduced to tears last season as the frustration of trying to get the best out of his Suzuki GSX-RR machine almost became too much for the Spaniard to bear.

Talking to MCN at the launch of the 2017 Gresini Aprilia machine that he’ll campaign in the coming year, he admitted that the characteristics of the Japanese machine meant that 2016 was one of the toughest seasons he’s ever faced – even to the extent of nearly forcing him into accepting a switch to the World Superbike championship.

“Last season was super bad for me, and I remembered like it was yesterday crying after the warm-up in Qatar. I’ve never cried over a result in my life, because it’s just a job and sometimes it’s bad and sometimes it’s good, but I was desperate because I wasn’t enjoying it. I couldn’t see the light.

“That’s why I was talking about World Superbikes, because in my mind that would have been an even bigger challenge and maybe I would have enjoyed it. But in the second part of the season I began to trust the front tyre a little more, and when Aprilia called me and really treated me like a top rider I’m again charging! I would like to try Superbikes one day, but I’m still only 27 so I have lots of time!”

Struggling to come to grip with Michelin’s front tyre on a bike that already had a nervous front end, he’s been left delighted by his new Aprilia, though – and is out to improve on 2017 on a bike that he has more confidence in.

“The first laps you do with a new bike are super important. The first impressions on the Aprilia was very good, because could break super late and hard with a lot of stability, and for me that’s so important.

“The way the bike treats the front tyre and goes into the tyre is better. We saw with the Suzuki that Iannone and Rins were super fast in testing because it’s an easy bike to ride – but they crashed a lot on the front tyre. The Suzuki is really competitive – maybe even easier than the Aprilia – but it’s hard to be consistent because you need to ride with the throttle and brake in a straight line like Maverick did, but my riding style is different.”