Despite another top-10 finish at the German GP, Suzuki factory rider Aleix Espargaro says his team needs to improve.
Suzuki’s factory team has seen steady success in the first year of their return to MotoGP; discounting DNFs in Catalunya and Le Mans, Espargaro has finished in the top 10 every race beside Qatar and Mugello, and never finished lower than 12th. In Germany, he ended in 10th, falling back from a seventh-place start. He says he’s glad to get another finish in the points, but that’s not enough.
“The second half of the season we need to make a big step forward,” Espargaro said. He wasn’t happy with his motorcycle’s performance in Germany, and hopes his team can work out some handling bugs over this weekend – bugs they were unable to fix in Germany.
“The entire three days we couldn’t find a proper setup,” he said. “I felt very uncomfortable with the front in slow corners and we couldn’t find a proper way to improve …
“We will go into Misano after this weekend and we will test as much as possible, with Tom – the Chief Technician. We already have some ideas about what to work on. ”
That doesn’t sound as if Suzuki is ready to drop their seamless gearbox into the bike just yet; it sounds as if handling is the priority of the day for Espargaro. Quotes from Suzuki MotoGP project manager Satoru Terada seem to back that up. Earlier this week, he recognized his team’s need for better acceleration, but said the main focus at the team’s private Misano test will be handling, looking at different set-ups and “new ideas in the chassis department.”
That accompanying pic is awesome