Aleix Espargaro was the top CRT rider in 2012, and this season the Aspar rider has become even more competitive from the Mugello GP (where he supposedly received a new engine spec) onwards, and he is regularly qualifying with the prototype riders and in more than one occasion, has even out qualified several of them.
At Laguna Seca, Espargaro ended up crashing and breaking his streak of consecutive CRT podiums, but the Spaniard is satisfied with his season so far and has said that he needs just a “bit more power and better electronics” to be further up the charts and he expects another engine upgrade in September.
However, the Aspar rider may find himself on one of Honda’s production racers next season – if he sticks with the squad for a third season – as the team may decide to switch to Honda, if they don’t reach an agreement with Aprilia on upgrades for 2014, which could include a much desidered but so far denied pneumatic valve engine.
Here’s a Power Electronic’s team generated interview with Espargaro.
How do you reflect on the first half of the season?I am much happier than I expected.
Last season finished well and we were looking forward to picking up with similar results in 2013 but I don’t think I or anybody else expected us to be so close to the official prototypes.
So I am really satisfied and I hope we can raise our game again in the second half of the championship.
Which has been your best race?Maybe in terms of practice it was Germany because we qualified in our best grid position but the race I enjoyed the most and finished closest to the front was in Holland.
Would you delete any race of the races from memory if you could?I wouldn’t delete any of them although I must admit I had been hoping for much more from my home race at Montmeló.
What does Aleix Espargaró need to be even better?I have to improve in various areas.
For example when the temperature is higher I don’t seem to be able to run at the same pace because we lose a lot of traction on the rear.
To a certain extent that’s what happened to us in Barcelona.
That is my only handicap, if you want to call it that, because I honestly don’t think I have been giving too much away in the first half of the season.
What more do you need from the bike?It is working perfectly, the chassis is incredible and it allows us to apply so many variables.
The only way we could improve the ART is with a bit more power and better electronics.
What do you hope for from the second half of the season?I can’t ask for much more.
I think if we can keep this level up until the end of the season we’d all be very satisfied.
It won’t be easy because we demand more of ourselves every day, we want to keep closing the gap to the factory bikes and so staying at the level we’re already at would be an exceptional achievement.
What do you have planned for the holidays?To disconnect completely for a week a long way from home in New York.
I have never been before so I am sure it will be a great experience.
After that I will spend a few days at the beach with friends and then get back to training and start thinking about Indianapolis.
Who has been the strongest rider so far this season?The current situation in the championship is a little strange.
I would say Marc is probably the strongest because of the fact he is leading the championship at the halfway stage and with this being his rookie season he deserves a lot of credit.
You have to say that Dani is really strong this year and Jorge too, of course.
It is a shame they have both been injured but I think that all three of them are performing at an outstanding level.
Of the circuits that are left, which do you most prefer?The most favourable one for us is probably Misano, being so small.
I also really like Sepang because it is fast and I love fast tracks.
Phillip Island is magical too.
There are two sets of triple-header races within the space of three months after the break.
Is that an advantage or disadvantage for you?To be honest I love racing and I would do it every week if I could but anything more than two races in a row is tiring, especially outside Europe.
Anyway, everything is going so well for us this season and my relationship with the team is so good that every situation we find ourselves in is that much easier to tackle.
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