Espargaro is right: the Silverstone speed is no flash in the pan. Espargaro has notched up eight top 10s in 2021, including two P6s in Jerez and Portimao that were – until the British GP – equal-best results for Aprilia in MotoGP™. Some people may think top 10s and P6s aren’t too much to shout about, but that’s where you’d be wrong. The premier class is ferociously competitive nowadays, arguably to most competitive we’ve ever seen it, with all six factories – who all finished in the top six for the first time in MotoGP™ at the British GP – scrapping within tenths of each other every session. A tenth a lap, even half a tenth, could be the difference between finishing on the podium and finishing just outside the top five. Fine margins make the difference, and it’s one reason why Aprilia have found the going tough since coming back.