Max Biaggi is one of those who will have excellent memories of the last Dutch Grand Prix at Assen. Firstly because the event fell at the time of celebrating his 51st birthday. And then because the rider he is boss of under the Husqvarna banner and the Aprilia brand of which he is the official ambassador gave him great gifts, one of which could well change the course of the MotoGP championship…
This last point is the hope of the men in RS-GP who are no longer outsiders but one of the favorites in the race for the 2022 title which has passed the halfway point of the season. Turkey stuffing Catalonia where he had celebrated a second position a lap before the checkered flag which he finally took fifth and despaired by his blunder, Aleix Espargaro wiped the slate clean Assen. His fantastic comeback proved that he had been in the peloton since 2009, and therefore that he was not a partridge of the year.
Furthermore, by taking 13 points from fabio quartararo who had pushed him in the race with the consequences that we know, he crosses out the disappointment of the nine units consumed by his Barcelona thoughtlessness. Indeed, in his Batavian plans, he saw himself as the winner and fabio quartararo second, or reduce his delay by five lengths. Nine and five making 14, the count is almost good...
And then, beyond this cold accounting operation, there is the method. This rise, this authority has given confidence and a dimension which are so many pedestals for a winning morale. The reigning World Champion can also make mistakes. By falling to Assen, he now leaves Aleix Espargaró as the only driver in the field to have scored in all the races completed so far this season…
Max Biaggi: “Aleix Espargaró et Aprilia n’ont jamais eu un moral aussi élevé"
The thirty-year-old Spaniard had never won until now. His first success came this year in Argentina and to date he has achieved four consecutive third places in Portugal. Spain, France and Italy… and to think that until last year he had won, in all, a second place (in 2014) and a third place (in 2021). All that, Max Biaggi analyzed it after celebrating as team boss on the Batavian podium the Moto3 victory ofAyumu Sasaki : " luck gave Aleix back a little of what he had lost in Barcelona, when he stopped a lap early. Now, with Fabio's accident, nothing is the same anymore, there are fewer points behind, it's closer. However, we are still halfway through the World Championship, there is still a long way to go. He was lucky that the bike was not damaged, but then he kept a good pace, without the accident he probably would have fought for the victory ».
He adds : " Aleix and Aprilia have never had such high morale. And until now, they had never found themselves in a position to challenge for the title. Aleix is experiencing the most important moment of his life in MotoGP. He has a dream in his head which becomes more and more possible. At this stage, everyone must work to make as few mistakes as possible ". And we will remember that Pol's older brother will be able to count on a teammate worth a Maverick Vinales who once stated that he would do anything to help his stablemate and friend in life. And then making fun of his former employer Yamaha wouldn't displease him either...
MotoGP Assen Championship: classification after Assen (11/20)
Credit classification motogp.com
