Aleix Espargaró won the sprint race at the MotoGP Catalan GP. The Aprilia rider quickly moved up to second place to chase down a strong Francesco Bagnaia – overtaking his Aprilia rival on the sixth lap and never losing the lead until the end.
In the press conference, the Spanish rider revealed that he was not entirely satisfied with his qualifying: ‘I’m very, very happy. It was a special feeling when I crossed the finish line, even if it was just the sprint. But this morning was a bit bitter because I finished second – which is great for the two races, but I felt a little bit like I’ve lost. I gave everything, but Pecco was better, was amazing, lap record, and I was a bit angry so I started with a big commitment in the sprint race’.
Regarding the sprint race, Espargaró admitted that he was surprised by Bagnaia’s pace, and he tried to keep up with him even though he didn’t plan to ride at that level: ‘I was a bit shocked at the beginning, first two laps, because the level Pecco proposed was very high: 1m39s low was a very, very high pace. It was not on my plan to go at that pace. So, when he started to push like this I said to myself: «Ok, let’s play, let’s see who can go faster, let’s see who destroy the rear tyre before». And, yes, I won today’.