Espargaro ‘needs’ Australian GP win if he wants MotoGP title shot

Espargaro is just 20 points back from championship leader Fabio Quartararo coming into this weekend’s Phillip Island round, with 75 points still on offer in 2022.

The Aprilia rider hasn’t won since claiming his maiden MotoGP victory in Argentina at round three back in April, while his last podium came at Aragon three races ago.

Ending Friday’s practice in Australia seventh overall sandwiched between his main title rivals Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia, Espargaro says his 20-point deficit is much bigger than it looks.

Asked what he feels he needs to do on Sunday, Espargaro replied: “Win, because 20 points looks not so much.

“But in reality, in three races against Pecco and Fabio 20 points is quite a lot. So, I need to win if I want to fight for this title.”

Espargaro comes to Australia off the back of two difficult weekends in Thailand and Japan.

While a bike issue led to him finishing without points at Motegi, his difficult Thailand weekend was a result of Michelin bringing a stiffer tyre carcass to Buriram to cope with the extreme heats.

Returning to its standard tyre carcass for Phillip Island, Espargaro said it was important for him to have a normal Friday in Australia after what happened in Thailand.

“Yeah, sincerely yes because in Thailand I worked really hard to have the speed,” he said when asked if it was important to him to be fast straight away in Australia.

“In Japan it was not bad, but in Thailand I tried everything.

“I tried two completely different bikes, I insisted so much, and in the warm-up we improved a little bit but I was not better than top 10, top eight maybe.

“And here, I didn’t ride with the hard front because it was a bit cold and I decided to be a little bit more patient and with the soft front I suffered a lot.

“But even like this I was fast, so tomorrow hopefully with better conditions I will be able to use the hard front and make one step.”