Let's talk MotoGP: The magnificent adventure of Aleix Espargaró

We continue our retrospective of each driver's season, from the last to Pecco Bagnaia. To appreciate the performance of our heroes, looking at their place overall is not enough. Thus, we will look at the dynamics, the context, the qualifications, the expectations that the driver in question aroused to judge his campaign. Yesterday was the season of Jack Miller who was in the spotlight. You can find the corresponding article by clicking on this highlighted sentence.

As a reminder, this opinion remains subjective, and only reflects the thoughts of its author.

I) Sumptuous epic

As with all the other drivers in the ranking, we will dissect the main qualities and faults of Aleix Espargaró that we have noted this season. Contrary to what one might think, there are a few elements to discuss, and undoubtedly his final position could have been better at the finish. But before we look at what went wrong, let's pay tribute to the immense pilot that he is.

Aleix, leader of the Aprilia project since 2017, is finally recognized for his true value. In fact, it's difficult to hide our admiration for him. More than a year ago, we had already written about this giant by stipulating that over the full decade 2010-2020, he was undoubtedly at the level of Dani Pedrosa in terms of achievements. Often equipped with less efficient motorcycles, so as not to say it in the street, big brother Espargaró was able to express himself for the first time on a competitive bike, undoubtedly the second best in the field over the first part of the season. He thus cements his legend and this victory in Argentina, in our opinion, definitively seals the debate: Aleix is ​​one of the four, or even five, greatest drivers over the last 12 years (the debate with Rossi is surprisingly close).

 

 

After so many seasons of struggle, this epic is only a just reward, the MotoGP gods listened to the Spaniard's repeated prayers. For that alone, hats off.

II) A funny feeling

However, this dithyrambic introduction does not say everything. Wouldn't the real job of the editor and journalist be to prevent people from being happy? That's another debate. And even if it breaks our hearts, we are obliged, out of intellectual honesty, to specify what was less good, because the results are far from perfect. Worse still, we think this 4th place leaves a bitter taste.

First, let's start with the firing window. Rarely has the context been so favorable to an “outsider” brand on the grid. Nobody wanted to take the lead at the start of 2022: Yamaha was regressing, KTM was not confirming, Ducati was experiencing many problems with the Desmosedici GP22 and Honda, without a Marc Márquez at the top, was going nowhere. To tell the truth, Suzuki was in the same configuration as Aprilia and thinking about it, they too should have done better in the very first rounds. However, the announcement of the withdrawal for the end of 2022 put an end to the good start to the season achieved by the men of Hamamatsu.

Thus, Aprilia and a fortiori Aleix Espargaró took advantage of it, and that's the game. However, we think they didn't drive the point home enough. After his victory at Termas de Río Hondo, the Spaniard put himself in a defensive configuration and was no longer going to look for his results. So certainly, four consecutive podiums rewarded this approach but the Noale firm was in a rather unpleasant sort of in-between. By not wanting to push at the risk of falling, Aleix focused on regularity in performance, but the lack of proactivity confined him to the role of outsider all year long.

In reality, it was never " that " the fourth, or even fifth, best driver. In hindsight, we can affirm that he never played the title, but stayed afloat thanks to magnificent performances, it must be recognized, but also a particular context. As soon as Pecco Bagnaia, who took the opposite approach, started scoring, the plan fell through. History teaches us more on this subject because Aleix is ​​not the first to “play with regularity”. Since 2002, only three drivers have been crowned even though they were not intrinsically the fastest (Hayden in 2006, Marquez in 2013 et Mir in 2020). Thus, it is possible to draw the following conclusion: we don't choose to be consistent, we become regular because we're not fast enough to win.

 

 

But if he can't go faster, then can we blame him directly? Unfortunately, Assen's round works against him in the analysis of his season. This sensational performance, arguably one of the best in 2022, showed that yes, Aleix still had grit and explosiveness under his feet. We never found this version of Espargaró and it's a shame.

Of course, we could also talk about his blunder in Barcelona but it is ultimately secondary and would not have changed the final result. On the other hand, its second part of the season reflects the team's collective running out of steam. Between loss of speed (Viñales was, for a few races, the most dangerous), of human errors (the blunder in Japan) and a RS-GP less and less reliable and efficient (13 points for the team over the last three rounds), the great adventure turned sour and left a taste more bitter than spicy.

Conclusion :

Make no mistake: Aleix Espargaró's season is simply magnificent. In absolute terms, bringing Aprilia to this level is exceptional. But in detail, we find it a shame not to have tried everything. Aprilia and Aleix, in particular, should not have played for regularity and forced themselves, played out the stunts exactly like in Assen. Besides, this has always been his profile: He had never retired less than five times per season since his arrival at the Italian team, formerly headed by Gresini Racing team. This change of approach could pay off in a different era, but in our opinion, the gamble was too risky against monsters of speed. The proof is; Bagnaia was titled with five falls.

What did you think of his season? Was he really in the title race? Tell us in the comments!

 

Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport