Espargaro's bad luck rolls on

Hand injury in Austria and engine failure in Brno for Team Suzuki Ecstar rider

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro had a frustrating visit to the Czech Republic, as an engine problem prevented him from finishing Sunday’s race and his hand injury from Austria meant it was decided that he should miss Monday’s post-GP test. Espargaro broke a finger in a crash at the Austrian GP that saw the Granollers native unable to finish that race, and the Team Suzuki Ecstar rider will be hoping for better luck for both man and machine as the paddock heads for Silverstone.

In difficult and changeable conditions in the 22-lap battle in Brno, Espargaro was forced out by an engine failure after a strong showing earlier in the race. Following a positive start from fourth on the grid and having demonstrated strong competitiveness for almost two-thirds distance, the issue with his GSX-RR prevented him from completing the race.

Espargaro needs some time to recover from his hand injury from Austria, so it was therefore decided that he would not participate in the post-race test on Monday after the back-to-back challenge of riding through the pain barrier in Brno.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team and Aleix Espargaro, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR, HJC Helmets Grand Prix České republiky

Aleix Espargaro: “This year is really unlucky. In the warm-up we tried a modification in the very last run and I had the feeling it was correct, as I felt lot more comfortable and it helped me a lot in the start and in the first laps as I managed to stay close to the top. Then suddenly I felt something was wrong in the bike, the engine was not performing normally and I had to give up. It will be very important to go and understand what happened. At the end of the day it’s the first issue like this in two years of development, it’s frustrating, but it’s something that happens in races.”