Aleix had an average qualifying, six tenths behind his teammate Maverick Vinales, which placed him in ninth position on the starting grid, sharing the third row with Andrea Iannone and Dani Pedrosa. While his neighbor from the Ducati team jumped to second place during the first meters of the race, Aleix found himself tenth at the end of the first lap.
He overtook Cal Crutchlow quite quickly and hung on to the rear wheel of his brother Pol's Yamaha Tech 3. He followed him without problem, but despite all his efforts could not overtake him. However, he was so close that an attack at the end of the race seemed very likely, which made it possible to envisage a very spectacular final lap for the two brothers.
But the scenario was in fact different, and the situation became complicated when the Yamaha followed by the Suzuki joined the Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso, then in sixth position. Pol overtook the Desmosedici two laps from the end and skillfully played his end game by inserting the Italian between his brother and himself. The finish between the three men was a sprint, and only three tenths separated Pol sixth, Dovi seventh and Aleix eighth. On Tuesday, Aleix will join the Aprilia camp to prepare with his new team for their joint 2017 season.
According to Aleix Espargaro, “I had a bad start and then I had to recover several positions, but I fought to do it. It was really difficult to overtake, but also I didn't want to take too many risks at the start of the race. Then the pace was good, but I couldn't do better than eighth. It's not what I was hoping for, but it's OK. I really enjoyed the race, even if my feeling with the front was not perfect.
“I'm proud to have been part of the history we made with Suzuki, the whole team has been incredible to me and we have truly created a family. Also, the bike is now really good, so I'm proud to have contributed to that. I feel like I'm not leaving with a complete job, I missed the podium, but everyone in the team knows that I gave 110% every time I wore that blue leather. This weekend has been really emotional for me, I leave good friends and a project that has developed very positively. »
