Espargaro was of that mindset after a surprise decision to fit the soft rear tyre was made by himselꩲf and the factory Aprilia Racing💟 team.

Prior to the race Michelin had advised riders not to use the soft rear, and aft✃er 10 laps it was already apparent that Espargaro was in for a tough afternoon. 

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“Big mistake from myself and the team.ꦬ It’s a team mistake but I’m the last one who decides so it’s a bad mistake,” said Espargaro. 

“I had a very bad feeling in the warm-up; a very, very bad feeling. Maybe it was not the best tyre in the warm-up and instead of insisting and putting the medium in like everyone, I put 🐭in the soft. 

“I waꦬs expecting the drop but maybe further into the race. I lost a good opportunity today.𒅌 

“From Friday I have been one of the fastest riders on the grid so fightin🍸g for the podium was a big possibility. I made a mistake. 

“It’s difficult in MotoGP to be able to fighꦬt fไor podiums and victories, so to throw away an opportunity like this is not really good.”

Espargaro knew the soft rear were cause problems 𓃲late on,♓ however, he was hoping to at least double the amount of laps he managed before struggling.

A 27-lap race, Espargaro was aiming to get to around 20 laps befoᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚre suffering a drop in performance, but that was far fr𓆉om the case.

Espargaro said: “I expected to do at least thꦉe first 18-20 laps at a decent pace but on lap 10 I could feel a drop. 

“It's really a big shame because I had really good speed the whole weekend. It’s stupid to say I could win but I felt like all weekend I was🌠 strong.”