advantage always the trump card as he passed Valen-
tino Rossi (Monster Yamaha) and then the blazing Aleix
Espargaro on the on-form Aprilia.
As Vinales took second, he motored past Quartararo,
and then steadily closed on Miller, taking him on lap 15.
Miller, in turn, had been closing again on Vinales, now
to within a second, and the Ducati pair remorselessly
chewed away at the gap. By lap 20, Dovi was lining him
IIIMY OWN RACE:
41 ALEIX ESPARGARO
7TH MOTOGP
"Today's result was good," said Aprilia's
Aleix Espargaro. "The team and I gave
100 percent, and we deserve it. At the
start, with the fuel tank full, I didn't
have the best feeling with the front
end, but things got be er and be er
a er a few laps. I had fun. Ba ling in
the leading group is always nice, al-
though the characteris cs of the track
undoubtedly helped us."
46 VALENTINO ROSSI
8TH MOTOGP
"I knew yesterday it would be difficult
to fight for the podium because three
or four guys were faster than me, but
today was worse because a er some
laps, I had to slow down," Valen no
Rossi said. "I didn't have grip, and I
had some kind of problem with the
res, it happened a li le like it did in
Silverstone. To me, it's not a problem
of the res, it's our problem. We
always struggle with the grip on the
rear, and because of this lack of grip
we also damage the re more, so in
the end it was a very difficult race. It
looks like everybody on the hard rear
re had some problems, also the other
Yamahas, but more towards the end.
I started having problems earlier on.
But I don't know if we could have done
be er on the so , because during the
prac ce the so wasn't very good for
our bike."
MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 16 / SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
MOTORL AND ARAGON / ARAGON, SPAIN
P102
(Below) Fabio
Quartararo
didn't have
the setup for
the Aragon
circuit, so he
was pleased to
finish within the
top five.
Jack Miller leads Maverick Vinales late in the race.
Miller got around Vinales for a trip to the podium.
