Aleix Espargaro says he will have to “risk” if he is in a good position in the second half of the MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix to deliver Aprilia a strong result to end a “not good year”.
Espargaro sits 15th in the standings on 44 points – 18 fewer than he scored last year – in a tough season aboard the Aprilia, in which he has scored just two top 10s amidst myriad bike issues.
Launching from eighth on the grid, Espargaro admits he has “nothing to lose” should he be in a strong position come the second half of Sunday's Valencia finale, and he feels the team “deserves” a good result to round off its difficult fourth year back in the premier class.
When asked how much confidence his strong form this weekend has given him, he said: “A lot. You cannot imagine how much.
“Nothing will change, it's just one race, but tomorrow, if we can fight for the top six, will be fantastic.
“The first part of the race I have to use a lot my head, try to be relaxed and if the second part of the race we are in a good position, we have to risk, nothing to lose because this year has been not good for all of us.
“So tomorrow I think all the Aprilia guys, myself deserve a good result. We are doing a good job, dry and wet, close to the top guys in every session. So why not can we do a good race tomorrow?”
In recent races Espargaro has been riding a 'lab' version of the RS-GP, featuring development 2019 parts.
He explains the “most important thing” with this bike is the greater rear grip it has given him compared to the '18 RS-GP, and says his pace in the wet relative to teammate Scott Redding – who he claims is “better” than him – shows the improvements made lately.
“The bike is improving, the RS-GP 'lab' is a lot better than the 2018 bike and this is the most important things.
“This makes me very positive and looking forward to the first 2019 pre-season test.
“Overall with this bike, the most important things is I feel the grip come back again. I feel strong in the dry, and when you are strong in the dry like I was now you are strong in the wet, because you feel a lot of grip in the rear.
“I have to say, I want to be frankly speaking, Scott, if we look back he has always been better than me in the wet.
“I am not a super rider in the wet, and look how Scott is struggling in the wet and how strong I've been in the wet, I've been super strong all weekend. So it means that the bike is much better.”
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