Enthusiasm is part of the Espargaró family, of which the eldest Aleix is not the last to have it. An approach to things which is also felt by a generous style once on the track. Recently, he renewed his contract with Aprilia for two years, which makes him happy, less than a month before the first Grand Prix in Jerez. It must be said that he was able to taste a new, apparently well-born RS-GP. But his boss on the ground, Massimo Rivola, tempers his optimism, making him say that the brand will be the big surprise of the next two years...
Massimo rivola undoubtedly prefers to have in its ranks a rider convinced of his motorcycle rather than an eternal dissatisfied person with a depressing mood. However, between the two, there is a happy medium that you sometimes have to know how to show. The sports director of the Noale factory was amused by the latest statements from his spearhead Aleix Espargaró proclaiming to anyone who will listen that the RS GP will be the big sensation to come.
« I think Aleix alluded to virtual races ", ironically Massimo Rivola in an interview with Günther Wiesinger on Speedweek. com that holds the top spot. " It's nice to have a motivated driver. At the same time, you have to keep your feet on the ground. I would be happy if we could be much faster in 2020 than the previous year. But this season the level will be much higher than before. For example, beginners like Bagnaia will have one year of experience. KTM has built a very competitive motorcycle. All the competitors are pushing very hard ».
“Aleix was perhaps talking about virtual races”
Likewise, the number of prototypes with official specifications has increased. “ If we look at the level of the machines, the drivers and give a realistic assessment of the championship, it would be nice to be able to stay in the top ten. We also know that there are tracks where we fight better than elsewhere. Last year, for example, we were at the forefront in Brno and Austria. There are other tracks where we are quite strong, for example in Aragon or Phillip Island… We know we have taken a good step forward, we see positive improvements. But we also don't know exactly how much the opponents have improved ».
Last year there was the performance ofAndrea Iannone in Australia. But not only : " Aleix Espargaró won fifth place in Aragon in 2019. Maybe we can do even better this year. Overall, he's definitely more confident because we have a brand new bike. We know we have made progress, we see great improvements compared to our own performance in 2019 ».
We will also recall thatAprilia appears on the starting line with the only Aleix Espargaró as a leading driver since Andrea Iannone is still embroiled in legal proceedings regarding his doping case. Bradley Smith, the test pilot, will act as interim in the meantime…
