Espargaro was seen by many as the favourite for Sunday’s full-distance race at the Losail International Circuit, with six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez leading the praise for the Aprilia rider after he showed stunning pace in the closing laps of the sprint to finis third.
But the 34-year-old’s hopes of adding a fourth premier class win to his tally were dashed at the start of the grand prix as he slumped from second to ninth on the opening lap, leaving him outside the lead group.
Trundling in the middle of the pack, the Spaniard was unable to make any real recovery from his poor launch and crossed the finish line in eighth, just three tenths clear of GasGas Tech3 rookie Pedro Acosta.
Speaking to the media afterwards, Espargaro described his lack of pace on Sunday as “embarrassing”, saying a tyre issue can be the only reasonable explanation for his troubles in Qatar.
“I had some problem with the rear tyre,” he explained. “From the warm up lap I felt that the rear tyre was like ice. No traction at all. It was as a nightmare all race. I couldn't lean, Nothing I could do.
“On Saturday night when I went to sleep I was 100% sure I that I will win the race. This is how I felt.
“But the race was a nightmare. I was extremely slow, [lapping in] 1m53s all race. Yesterday I did 52.4s in lap 8 of the sprint, so it was embarrassing.
He added: “I'm happy, it's race one. I've been very fast all weekend, I'm still sixth in the championship.
“It's a good start to the season but unfortunately I felt I lost a good opportunity really. This race was a nightmare. I was very angry all race.”
Source: Autosport