An excellent start from the fifth row characterised the early stages of the race in Austria for Aleix Espargaró, especially effective in braking with his Aprilia RS-GP, so much that he was stably in the top 10 for the first 16 laps. In the finale, the Spaniard suffered from deterioration of the rear tyre, losing positions until having to settle for a seventeenth place finish.

At the end of a complicated weekend, Scott Redding was unable to emerge in the race, finishing twentieth.

ALEIX ESPARGARO'

"I had a good start and in the early part of the race I was fast. I rode to the limit, maybe a bit too much, to try and stay in the group battling for the top 10. I stressed the rear tyre a lot in order not to lose ground, but after 15 laps, I lost grip and it was impossible to fend off the attacks. We know what our problems are and we need to work to solve them. The early laps with a good level of competitiveness gave me confidence, but we need added effort to bridge the gap. We have testing scheduled in Misano with a lot of upgrades that the Aprilia engineers will be bringing. It will be a fundamental day that we'll need to fully exploit."


SCOTT REDDING

"This was an extremely difficult weekend. I was only able to demonstrate my potential in the wet, whereas on the dry track a series of factors kept us from doing any better than a result that is quite frankly disappointing. It's frustrating because the final position does not reflect my efforts. Now we have a test in Misano ahead of my home race at Silverstone, so I hope it will help us to come out of this negative period."