“Big mistake” to hold MotoGP Valencia GP at 3pm, says Espargaro

KTM factory rider Jack Miller crashed out of the lead on lap 19, with Alex Rins, Augusto Fernandez and Enea Bastianini all ending up in the gravel in similar incidents.

Francesco Bagnaia eventually won for Ducati to seal his second world title, after closest rival Jorge Martin was eliminated in a crash with Marc Marquez.

The cooler temperatures were in part due to the 2023 season finale taking part three weeks later than last year’s race.

The start time was also scheduled an hour later than its usual 2pm slot to avoid clashing with the beginning of Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Factory Aprilia rider Espargaro believes he would have “crashed the same” as Miller had he been leading the race given the “very cold” temperatures.

“[It was a] big mistake to put the race at 3pm, big mistake,” he said.

“I talked with Jack before talking to you, I felt very bad for him and said ‘Jack, you lost temperature in the front when you were in P1 alone?’ and he said yes.

“So it was clear, yeah it was his mistake but in this case, I would crash the same. 

“It’s very difficult. You see why Pecco [Bagnaia]… Pecco is smart, he’s a very good rider and he understood that he was better not to lead today.

“Jack tried because he’s brave and he made a mistake but I would do the same.

“It was very late, almost 4pm, very cold. With this front tyre is very sensitive.”

Though Miller said he could feel the temperatures dropping as the race progressed, he stopped short of blaming it for his crash.

He said: “It cooled down this afternoon. I mean, lap by lap you could feel it cooling down.

“3pm we started the race and it’s nearly f***ing dark out there already.

“But we’re racing in the last weekend in November here in Valencia, so that can be expected racing at 3pm.

“So, I’m not going to blame that. It was the same conditions for everybody and Pecco managed to stay on the bike and win the race and win the championship.”

Bagnaia also said it was “quite scary out there,” adding: “In the last five laps I started to feel cold on the bike and I was very scared about the front tyre, it was the hard.”