Aleix Espargaro was relived to still be “alive” in the battle for the 2022 MotoGP title after receiving a penalty for colliding with Brad Binder in the Thailand Grand Prix.
The Aprilia rider looked to be on for a dreadful weekend in Thailand having struggled to breach the top ten all weekend in the dry, the Spaniard qualifying 13th with team-mate Maverick Vinales a lowly 17th on the sister RS-GP.
The heavy rain shower that coated the Chang International Circuit shortly prior to the race was a game changer for Aprilia’s event though as both its riders showed strong speed in the wet, Vinales charging to seventh by the flag while Espargaro claimed 11th having had to serve a long-lap penalty for colliding with KTM’s Binder on the opening tour.
While Espargaro “accepts” the penalty dished out to him, he reckoned that it was “too much” due to him believing that Binder “closed the line” on entry to Turn 3 – although he was satisfied to at least reduce his championship deficit from 25 to 20 points after series leader Fabio Quartararo failed to score.
“It was difficult, especially the first part of the race it was tricky to have clear vision because the visibility was very low,” said Espargaro.
“I braked later than him (Brad Binder) and he closed the line so there was contact, from my point of view it was too much to give me a long-lap penalty which ended up being a really long one.
“However this is racing and I accept it, and after that I tried my best and managed to recover some positions and got some decent points.
“The championship is riding until the end but it is still 20 points with three more races so we have some chances, I’m happy we are still alive in the final part of the championship and I will try again at Phillip Island and Malaysia, which are very good circuits for me.”
Vinales: “In the wet I don’t have issues with turning”
Vinales meanwhile was left thrilled after scything through the field from 22nd on the opening lap after a slow start to seventh, admitting Aprilia were “lucky” that rain turned up in the nick of time to save its weekend.
He also noted that his “issues with turning” that he has in dry conditions were not a problem in the wet, a phenomenon Vinales intimated that he and the outfit “must learn from and understand.”
“I felt really good on the bike, in Japan I felt good but here I felt even better in the wet because I’m starting to understand the qualities of the bike,” added Vinales.
“Something interesting for us is that in the wet I don’t have issues with the turning that I do in the dry, so we must learn from that and try and understand something.
“Today we were lucky it rained because even in the warm-up I kept working well and had a good rhythm, but I don’t think I was strong enough to be as high as I was today.
“I think if we had started in the front it would have been a totally different race, we could have been in the top four or five which would have been a really good result.
“It’s important to feel this much confidence in the rain because I’ve never normally been that good in the rain, but with this bike I can be very strong.”
