A fourth place in MotoGP farewell is a highly positive result but the truth is that during yesterday’s race there was a moment when Aleix Espargaró thought he could have gone further.
However, to do so, he rode at the limit, and despite the management, the front of his bike ended up giving way and he had little traction.
The Spaniard who said goodbye to Aprilia spoke like this about the race, and revealed that he dreamed of winning in Barcelona: ‘It was impossible. In the first part of the race I thought I had the pace to fight for the win and that was a bit of a shock for me because I knew the guys in front of me were on the soft tire. I was riding at the limit of the bike, more than ever in my life, braking super super late but I tried to be a little conservative thinking that maybe I would have an advantage in the final part of the race’.
This was followed by new praise for the Ducati Desmosedici, as so many times during the year: ‘I don’t understand what Ducati is doing but with the soft tire they had more than me’.
A little more than halfway through the race to the front, #41 admitted that this was a ‘nightmare’: ‘I was very careful the whole race but the last ten laps were a nightmare for me, with no traction and even though I had a tire compound harder than them but still without traction’.
Happy to have helped the new champion, Espargaró regretted not being able to get closer to the podium: ‘I’m very happy to help Jorge [Martín] and protect him a little in his position. In the final part I tried to stay close to the podium but I wasn’t able to’.
