Aleix Espargaró is undoubtedly the linchpin of Aprilia in a MotoGP project that he now carries alone and at arm's length. It was not because of the weight of this responsibility that he had surgery for compartment syndrome, but at a time when, suddenly, there was great interest in Noale's motorcycle, the same one that no one wanted only a few months ago, the Spaniard would like to recall his great contribution to this development…
During the last offseason, all the young drivers thatAprilia had contacted to take the place of a Andrea Iannone at the end of his career with the pronouncement of a four-year suspension due to doping, had declined the offer. A real snub when, on the table, official pilot status was still offered. Then the news RS GP arrived and things changed. The machine aroused such interest that it mobilized a Andrea Dovizioso in the middle of a sabbatical year. Yes, but this improvement should not make us forget that before reaching this point, a pilot pushed the cart into the mine. And it's Aleix Espargaró which went to coal.
The latter wanted to mark the occasion so that he would not be left out of history. His start to the season is interesting: after the first five Grand Prix of the season, the driver of 31 years claims two sixths, a seventh and a tenth place which puts him in seventh place in the provisional general classification of the championnat. In Jerez, the spearhead Aprilia lost only 5,164 seconds to the winner Jack Miller on Ducati for the entire race distance. The Noale manufacturer has never been so close in the MotoGP era. Finally, if France constitutes a blank result, the Spanish pilot has nothing to do with it since he suffered a technical breakdown.
Aleix Espargaró can therefore be proud of the progress of the Noale project: “ I am very happy with the level we are showing this year. We are very close to the leaders. At each race and on completely different tracks. I don't want to sound arrogant, but yes, I feel like a lot of this is due to my work and the great dedication I put into it. When I talk about myself, I also include the people around me, engineers are in the same area ».
Aleix Espargaro: “the one who has always worked and put the maximum effort into this project is me”
A way of marking the ground which can be explained by the growing shadow ofAndrea Dovizioso on the RS-GP project… The eldest I will espargaro even insists by recalling his condition: “ it's not like at Suzuki, where the two riders, Mir and Rins, have developed the bike together over the last three and four years. Maverick Viñales has been working at Yamaha for a long time and Marc Márquez at Honda “, said Aleix. “ I had a lot of teammates, but the one who always worked and put the maximum effort into this project was me. I am very proud of it. »
« A year ago, no one wanted to come to us, we were not considered a serious project. Now it seems Aprilia is the bike that talented young riders are also interested in ", declared on speedweek happily the experienced Spaniard. He added : " a driver with Dovizioso's talent is testing for us. I am very, very proud. Proud and happy » he finishes.
