It was an excellent race for Aleix Espargaró who rode his Aprilia RS-GP to seventh place. With this nice race result, the Spaniard closes out a weekend where he was consistently among the protagonists. Starting from the third row (eighth best time qualifying), Aleix quickly moved in the group of riders battling for the top five. In this stage of the race he battled fearlessly with some of the riders who are leading the championship standings, supported well by his RS-GP which once again confirmed the great progress that the Aprilia MotoGP project has demonstrated in this first half of the season.

After a few failed assaults, Aleix clinched his final pass at the end of the penultimate lap, overtaking Dovizioso to finish with a nice seventh place. The fifth best race lap time set by Espargaró (1’21.981) adds concrete confirmation and an element of satisfaction to a result that send the entire Aprilia Racing Team Gresini into the holiday break with a smile.

Sam Lowes crashed out without any physical consequences during the thirteenth lap while, after making up several positions, he was on the hunt to earn championship points.


ALEIX ESPARGARO'

"A good result, but to be honest I expected something even more. With the exception of Jonas and Marc, who did an extraordinary race, I thought that I could have been closer to the podium. Unfortunately, at the beginning I had to force a lot to overtake, stressing the front tyre and losing a few tenths. In any case, it was a positive weekend for us. We are progressing step by step. Staying with the strongest riders for almost the entire race is positive. Now I am thinking about relaxing during the break and being ready when we turn up at Brno."

SAM LOWES

"A small mistake cost me the race today. It's a pity because I had overtaken a few riders and I was making up ground. My pace was good even compared with that of Aleix who really did an outstanding job today. The improvements are there. I am starting to ride well and the signs are encouraging. The summer break arrived at the right time. I know that I can still improve a lot and I feel positive about the second half of the season."

ROMANO ALBESIANO - APRILIA RACING MANAGER 

“A nice race for Aleix. He was a contender on equal ground with bikes and riders who are battling for the championship. We are truly very close to staying with the leaders. We were among the best throughout the weekend and that is extremely positive, especially in the dry. If it had not rained on Saturday, Aleix would have been able to start even farther forward on the grid and that would have helped him to stress the front tyre less while battling in the early laps, but we are truly pleased with how things went. Some important technical innovations will arrive now so that we can continue growing and going beyond this good level that our project has reached.”

FAUSTO GRESINI - TEAM MANAGER 

“We were with the riders who are battling for the title for the entire race. This is a fantastic result that demonstrates the level of competitiveness we have reached. Now we are truly close to making a consistent play for the top positions. At mid-season our result is decidedly positive and we will continue to grow. Credit goes to Aleix, Aprilia who is working very well and the entire team that has skilfully managed the RS-GP.”