Espargaro finished eighth in Assen’s 26-lap race on Sunday after narrowly missing seventh in a fight with Honda’s Marc Marquez.
The Aprilia rider showed strong pace throughout practice and was just under five seconds from the final step on the podium, but “one major limitation” with his bike’s engine meant there was nothing he could do in the race against Ducatis.
Espargaro says this “frustrated him inside” because he “felt ready to fight for the podium” in MotoGP.
“I’m happy with my pace but I have a sense of frustration inside,” said Espargaro on Sunday.
“I feel like a – I don’t know if that’s nice – but I feel like an idiot because I feel like I am strong and fast and ready to fight for the podium because I am always there.
“But then I can’t overtake in the race. I have a major limitation in terms of the engine and the performance on the straights, and I can’t overtake.
“Today I was much stronger than [Francesco] Bagnaia for example, or [Jack] Miller, but I was stuck behind them.
“This is a huge frustration with Ducatis in particular. I did my best lap at the end of the race, which was the only lap that I was on my own.
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
Photo by: Dorna
“I drove in 1: 33.3 minutes, which is a very fast lap time, very close to my qualifying lap. But then I got to Bagnaia and I can’t overtake him. It’s just frustrating.
“I think we did a good job in the first half of this season, we’re eighth in the championship with 61 points, which of course we have to enjoy because we’ve done much worse in recent years.
“But we have to improve on the engine side, because that’s what we miss most.”
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On Sunday in Assen, Maverick Vinales – who will be leaving Yamaha at the end of the year – was linked with a shock move to Aprilia for 2022, though Espargaro refused to comment on these reports.
Vinales and Espargaro previously shared a garage at Suzuki from 2015-2016.