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After a great Saturday, the Aprilia Racing team ended up experiencing another bitter Sunday at the Portimão circuit. The RS-GP24's gearbox malfunctioned, preventing Maverick Viñales from returning to the podium in the aftermath of the success reached in the Portuguese Sprint Race.
The colors of the Venetian team were, therefore, kept high by its captain, Aleix Espargaró, who arrived at the finish line in 8th place, recuperating from the 19th place in which he had fallen back into after coming into contact with another rider in the first lap of the race. During his comeback, the Spanish rider also managed to recuperate two positions thanks to another accident that occurred in the GP finale: namely, the controversial crash involving Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez. An episode that Espargaró had no problem analyzing at the end of the race, as reported by the Spanish newspaper, AS.
"It was a race accident. That's a corner where things happen every year, but I think Pecco should've given him more room," the Catalan rider said with conviction. "He was very aggressive after Marc passed him. Sometimes, when you get overtaken, it's frustrating, but you can't be that aggressive. I think he should've given him more room."
His fellow countryman, Jorge Martin, partly shared the same thought. Even if he didn't want to get into much detail about the accident, he emphasized how crucial it is to understand when it's time to avoid a counterattack.
"At a moment like that, with just a few laps to go, you always try to counterattack when you think the rider in front of you is going long," the Pramac team rider explained. "On Saturday, Marc overtook me. I decided not to counterattack, and we got out of it unscathed, while they had an accident."
