In a race weekend to forget, Aleix Espargaró tried the longer version of the Öhlins fork in Friday’s practice. However, after four crashe, he decided to dispense with this component.
The Aprilia rider mentioned that he usually only tests the particular fork on certain tracks: ‘I used it on Friday, I crashed four times and I removed it. I tried three times this year, but a lot of riders use it always. But I just use when we are close to the bottom in a couple of brakes and this is one of this tracks. We tried, but, no’.
Asked why he loses the front so much with this component, Espargaró explained: ‘The long fork allows you to brake harder, which is OK with the brakes, but when you release the front brake for me it changes completely the position and the balance of the bike and I have no support on the front’.