Aleix Espargaro admits that a tiny thing destroyed him at the Austrian GP

A single fractured finger brought Espargaro to his knees three-quarters through the Red Bull Ring.

Turn 8 gets the better of @AleixEspargaro leaving his bike in pieces! #AustrianGP https://t.co/QPuXn8GceC

— MotoGP on BT Sport (@btsportmotogp) August 12, 2016

A tumble of his bike on Turn 8 at the practice round of the Red Bull Ring broke Aleix Espargaro’s finger last Friday. Though he’d been cleared after a trip to the doctor’s, much of his preparation for the race proper consisted of copious dosages of painkillers. From the sounds of it, it only helped up to a point and unfortunately, not at the most crucial point.

“Yeah, I used a harder [painkiller] last weekend. Actually on Saturday after qualifying, I immediately went to sleep for two hours because I was really tired, destroyed. But it was not enough in the race.

“On Saturday, I was happy, I was able to do five/six laps in a row with not a lot of pain, but in the race after 20 laps, I was destroyed.”

Aleix Espargaro

Suzuki's @AleixEspargaro admits he was "destroyed" by excessive pain during Austrian #MotoGPhttps://t.co/T6hrNAHtG9 pic.twitter.com/FYo3qqA2HU

— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) August 18, 2016

With all this happening, we don’t know how he’s going to cope with Brno looming ahead. With his twin fracture and damaged finger, we don’t see how he’s going to heal in time to cut the mustard. The worst part of it would be acceleration, where he would be required to be very aggressive, a guaranteed pain for his ailing hand. At the very least, Espargaro can hope for some respite at Brno, which doesn’t have the long straights that make acceleration a must on the Red Bull Ring.