Again criticism from Aleix Espargaro: "It's a joke" / MotoGP

Aprilia factory rider Aleix Espargaro advocates that offenses in the MotoGP class are always punished the same way. The long lap penalty at Silverstone costs less than a second.

Fabio Quartararo faces a long-lap penalty on Sunday for failing to overtake Aleix Espargaro in Assen. The loss of time at Silverstone is manageable.

Aprilia star Espargaro watched closely as Quartararo practiced the long lap in the two free practice sessions on Friday. “It’s a joke,” said the Spaniard. “But it’s not my place to complain about the long lap, otherwise it looks like I’m saying that because my rival has to serve the penalty. But he lost 0.8 seconds. We need to be more professional about this. The long lap penalty is a soft penalty, I like it, it’s good for the show. On some tracks you lose 2.5 seconds, that’s okay. But 0.8 sec, that’s ridiculous. Even if you lose 2 seconds you can fight for a podium, as Jack Miller proved earlier this year. Imagine what Fabio can do.”

Would it be better to issue a time penalty instead of a long lap penalty, for example 3 seconds? “No, absolutely not,” Espargaro said. «We must not forget that this is show business. We make a lot of noise about it, but ultimately this punishment is just for show. At Silverstone, the long lap is a meter off the track… There used to be a drive-through penalty, the race was broken, it was a disaster. The long lap penalty is very good, but we have to take it seriously. You can try out exactly how big the loss of time is, for example with a superbike. But it can’t be that it’s 3.1 seconds in Barcelona and 0.8 seconds in Silverstone. It should always be about the same, about 3 seconds. 2 seconds because of me, but 3 seconds is good for the show. We will discuss this in the safety commission. I’m uncomfortable with my current situation because I have nothing against Fabio. But now it looks like I’m just saying all this because he has to do the long lap. For us drivers, however, it is about penalties generally being handled in the same way and being canceled.”

Welcome to the Silverstone race weekend

Jack Miller

fabio quartararo

George Martin

Miguel Oliveira

Francesco Bagnaia

Alex Rins

johann zarco

Stefan Bradl

Alex Rins

Andrea Dovizioso

Enea Bastianini

Maverick Vinales

Pol Espargaro

fabio quartararo

Marco Bezzecchi

Aleix Espargaró

Francesco Bagnaia

Brad Binder

Quartararo finished first on Friday, he was 0.207 seconds faster than Aleix in 5th place. His Aprilia colleague Maverick Vinales was third. Maverick is getting better and better at RS-GP, claiming his first podium finish at Assen. Of course, this raises the question of team orders. After 11 of 20 races, Espargaro is 21 points behind championship leader Quartararo and cannot afford to give points to Vinales.

“We worked together on Friday, for which I have to thank you,” Espargaro said. “He’s very humble and willing to go ahead, push and help me. He looks at the data logs and tells me what to do – as if he were my brother. He’s acting like he’s part of Aprilia management, he wants to win that title too, which is fantastic. Aprilia sticks with me, Maverick sticks with me, love it. On Friday and Saturday we can work together, that’s a big help for me. But on Sunday everyone will drive their own race, it’s still too early.”

MotoGP combined times post FP2, Silverstone (5th August):

1. Quartararo, Yamaha, 1:58,946 min
2. Mir, Suzuki, + 0,154 sec
3. Viñales, Aprilia, + 0.177
4. Zarco, Ducati, + 0.188
5. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 0.207
6. Oliveira, KTM, + 0.217
7. Rins, Suzuki, + 0,300
8. Bastianini, Ducati, + 0.412
9. Miller, Ducati, +0.418
10. Bezzecchi, Ducati, +0.432
11. Bagnaia, Ducati, + 0.439
12. Marini, Ducati, +0.450
13. Martin, Ducati, +0.711
14. Alex Marquez, Honda, +0.843
15. Bradl, Honda, +0.855
16. Pol Espargaro, Honda, +0.906
17. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 1.040
18. Nakagami, Honda, +1,057
19. Dovizioso, Yamaha, +1.097
20. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +1.192
21. Brad Binder, KTM, + 1,198
22. Gardner, KTM, + 1,208
23. Darryn Binder, Yamaha, + 2,582
24. Raúl Fernández, KTM, + 2,632

MotoGP result FP1, Silverstone:

1. Zarco, Ducati, 1: 59.893 min
2. Bagnaia, Ducati, + 0.027 sec
3. Rins, Suzuki, + 0,327
4. Quartararo, Yamaha, + 0,545
5. Nakagami, Honda, +0.555
6. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 0.737
7. Viñales, Aprilia, + 0.906
8. Mir, Suzuki, + 0,950
9. Martin, Ducati, +1,055
10. Brad Binder, KTM, + 1,101
11. Pol Espargaro, Honda, +1,147
12. Miller, Ducati, +1,162
13. Bezzecchi, Ducati, + 1,219
14. Oliveira, KTM, + 1,227
15. Alex Marquez, Honda, +1,281
16. Bastianini, Ducati, + 1,326
17. Gardner, KTM, + 1,646
18. Raúl Fernández, KTM, + 1,685
19. Marini, Ducati, + 1,714
20. Dovizioso, Yamaha, +1.855
21. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +1.882
22. Bradl, Honda, +2,169
23. By Giannantonio, Ducati, + 2,286
24. Darryn Binder, Yamaha, + 2,672