Aleix Espargaró: "If you fall with a yellow flag you can kill a commissioner"

The timing of the Portuguese Grand Prix was marked by the cancellation of the laps to Bagnaia and Maverick Viñales. For the former, the stewards invalidated the lap that would have placed him first on the grid for having ignored a yellow flag immediately after Miguel Oliveira’s crash. To the second, for crossing the limits of the track.

In both cases, Espargaró understands the anger of the Italian and the Catalan, but refers to the regulations and the danger that certain dynamics on the track entail.

“I can’t get into Pecco’s mind or what he saw, so if he says he didn’t see the flag, then I believe him. But there are rules for our safety. Yesterday I fell at turn 11, many riders braked and he went wide at that point, off the asphalt when I was on the gravel trying to lift the bike with the stewards”, reflected the rider from Granollers (Barcelona).

“The norm is the norm, and Dorna would still have to be stricter in the sanctions and toughen them. If there is a yellow flag it is because there is someone on the ground, and if you fall you can kill a marshal. I feel bad for Pecco, because he deserved pole, but it’s very dangerous”, added the #4 1, who will start seventh this Sunday, opening the third row of the grid.

For Espargaró, the test times this weekend fully confirm the step forward taken by the prototype of the Noale brand, which according to him is already among the best in the premier class.

“The bike has improved a lot. For the first time since I’ve been on Aprilia I can do the time by myself. The improvement over last year is greater than it seems. This is the first year that Aprilia has a competitive bike, at the level of the best. We are ahead of the Hondas and very even with the Suzukis ”, concluded Aleix.