Aleix Espargaró had a race to forget at the MotoGP Australian GP. He finished eighth, more than nine seconds behind the winner, to his great disappointment. However, he doesn’t place blame on the changed schedule.

Due to forecasts of bad weather on Sunday, the main race was rescheduled for Saturday, which meant that the riders didn’t have as many opportunities to prepare for it. There was no sprint race or warm-up before as usual.

Despite the difficulties on the Aprilia, Espargaró emphasized that there was plenty of preparation time, when asked if the schedule had an impact: ‘No, no, no excuses. We had plenty of time on Friday with very nice conditions, also the FP2. Nothing would change if we raced on Sunday’.

O conteúdo Aleix Espargaró rejects blaming the schedule change for the lack of competitiveness aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Aleix Espargaró crossed the finish line in a modest ninth place in the MotoGP Australian GP, more than nine seconds behind the winner. The sprint race could take place tomorrow if the weather allows, potentially providing another opportunity for the Aprilia rider.

He mentioned that if the track is dry, he will opt for two soft tyres, and with that tyre combination, he could be considerably more competitive:

– The only positive on the sprint is that I will go soft-soft, front and rear. And with soft-soft I can go very fast. I proved yesterday that I did three laps in 1m28s half, this morning I did 1m27s. With the soft I can race a little bit more, I can risk a little bit more. But you never know; it looks like tomorrow anyway apart from the wind will be raining from 07:00.

O conteúdo Aleix Espargaró wants to use two soft tyres for the sprint race: ‘I can race a little bit more’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Aleix Espargaró had a race to forget at the Australian MotoGP. In contrast to his usual performance, the Aprilia was not competitive, and the rider finished in eighth place, more than nine seconds behind the leader.

This unexpected performance by the Spanish rider was attributed to difficulties with tyre spin, and he described the result as… embarrassing:

– It was embarassing today. We were not competitive, we had a lot of spin. I never expected to arrive ten seconds from the victory or de podium – nine seconds. The spin level we had this weekend was insane. I tried to manage the tyre. At the beginning I could go faster, sincerelly, but I knew I couldn’t make it to finish line, so I decided to start tyre saving. But even like this there were two or three laps that were dramatic.

According to Espargaró there were four points of the track where he lost more time, but he admitted that it wasn’t possible to be much faster in the whole race: ‘It was in 11/12 and two and six. These four corners… it’s crazy, I don’t understand why we spin like this. I don’t understand this lack of grip with this tyre all the weekend. With the soft I could go quite fast. But I said many times there are many circuits during the calendar in which the pure speed in one single lap it’s not really important – it’s more about the tyre saving, the managing. And there was nothing I could do really. I think it was impossible to go even half a second faster in the total race time today with an Aprilia’.

O conteúdo ‘It was embarassing; I never expected to arrive 9s from the victory’ – Aleix Espargaró aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Jorge Martín is unstoppable! The Spaniard showed that the crash he suffered last week hasn’t shaken his confidence and today at Phillip Island he confirmed another pole position, and with a record-breaking lap.

Martín started Q2 with a «message» for everyone else: on his second lap and his first in attack mode, the Spaniard set the fastest time of the weekend so far. The Spaniard entered Q2 with a time of 1:27.869s.

And… Martín didn’t stop there and improved his time once again, shaving 0.023s off his time to pull away from Brad Binder, second, who was 0.236s behind. Francesco Bagnaia was third at 0.425s.

With eight minutes to go, the riders headed to their teams’ garage and were ready for the final attacks. The clock was just over four minutes when most of the riders returned to the track.

Bagnaia was trying to get round Marc Márquez, but he was trailing behind the Italian and every tactic was being used to try and get the best place on the starting grid.

And with the first laps on the attack after the comeback Martín, who else, made history again and improved his own record: 1:27.246s. The #89 was the fastest ever (so far) in Australia!

Binder, very fast, was second at… 0.416s. Bagnaia was third and Aleix Espargaró fourth, with Johann Zarco fifth and Fabio Di Giannantonio sixth.

O conteúdo Jorge ‘Record Breaker’ Martín continues to make history at Phillip Island and takes MotoGP pole position aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Aprilia’s rider, Aleix Espargaró, hasn’t been at his peak lately. We haven’t seen him leading the pack since the Catalunya Grand Prix. Although he was a favorite at Mandalika, Espargaró unfortunately crashed during the Sprint Race. On Sunday, he finished in the tenth position. The Spanish rider shared his feelings about the track and his expectations for the upcoming Australian Grand Prix.

Espargaró commented on his initial impressions, “The track is quite bumpy. I lose a lot of time on the last turn; it’s crazy. I’m much slower than last year. My best lap today is about half a second slower than last year. I lose almost all of these half seconds on the last turn. I don’t have an explanation. The only thing I did when I stopped was complain about that turn and explain a bit to the engineers. We compared it with last year’s fast lap, which is similar in almost all areas. There’s a four-tenths difference, but three of those are lost on the last turn. That’s a significant amount.”

Espargaró also tried out different tires. “Since yesterday, there were rumors that the long race might be tomorrow. So, I didn’t quite understand why so many riders insisted on starting with the soft tire if the long race is tomorrow. I was one of the few with the medium tire. When I stopped at the pits, I was obviously far behind. I did a 30.0, but I was the first of the 7 with the medium tire. The rest were all with soft. So, even though it doesn’t look good because I was ninth, I was actually first. I maintained a rhythm of 30 lows with that tire and I’m happy. Then with the soft tires, I made a mistake on the time attack lap with the first soft. Even then, I was competitive and satisfied.”

On the topic of the schedule change, moving the fast race to Saturday, Espargaró said, “I think it’s smart. In the end, we’re here to race. Given that it would be crazier if there were no race at all tomorrow, it makes sense to have a race. But I’ve seen that the procedure is exactly the same, even if Dorna has changed its name. It’s a pure race, so it’s logical. Since we come to Australia, which is very far away, all points are given, and a long race is held on Saturday. But nothing changes; it’s the sprint race that will be 27 laps instead of 13. Then on Sunday, hopefully, conditions will change, and the sprint will take place.”

Espargaró shared his feelings about the upcoming race, “Last year I was very fast and competitive, like almost every Friday this year. But in the races, in the last six laps, I suffered a lot from tire degradation. So, we’ve worked on something different now, being a bit more conservative because I’ve had many problems on the last turn.”

O conteúdo Aleix Espargaró Praises MotoGP’s Schedule Changes: “We’re Here to Race” aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

During the last week Aleix Espargaro spoke of how great Honda is in motosports even coming to consider it the biggest in the category and now, despite having a strong contract with Aprilia and being said to be The Captain within Noale’s manufacturer, the truth is that he himself learned that ‘never say never’, in regards to breaking contracts in the class.

Earlier this week the rider told quoted on DAZN: ‘Honda is always a good option. I always make the same simile, Honda for me is Barcelona, the best [football] team in the world and it is the biggest’, which of course earned him a little more attention from the journalists present at Phillip Island.

The Aprilia Racing rider however said: ‘I don’t have much to say. In english people asked me about the contracts, they thought it was unbelievable that we are talking about riders with contracts. And the only thing I have said is that many people have criticised Marc for breaking a contract, and I think it’s romantic. In relationships everything can be broken sometimes. As long as it is by mutual agreement, and there is understanding on both sides, that’s life, it’s respectable. What doesn’t seem right to me is if it is unilaterally, as sometimes happens with the Moto2 and Moto3 teams’.

He then came to speak of something he learned over the years and how he himself sees things differently nowadays:

– Another thing I have learned in this paddock is that I was a guy with very fixed ideas who said «never, ever». And I’ve learned that «never say never». This sport is crazy and we have seen some very, very strange things. You always have to listen to everything, evaluate everything and put everything on the table. And, above all, you have to feel the sensations you have. But now is not the time to talk about that.

O conteúdo ‘In relationships everything can be broken sometimes; I learned that «never say never»’ – Aleix Espargaro speaks of Marquez… A sign for Honda? aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Aleix Espargaro recently hinted at the possibility of joining Honda, describing the team as an attractive option. When questioned about the high-profile vacancy at Honda for the 2024 MotoGP season, Espargaro responded, “Honda is always a good option.” This seat became available following Marc Marquez’s decision to join Gresini Ducati.

While riders like Miguel Oliveira and Maverick Vinales have been heavily associated with the role of succeeding Marquez at Honda, Espargaro’s name has now entered the mix. Drawing a parallel between Honda and the football team Barcelona, Espargaro told DAZN, “I always make the same simile, Honda for me is Barcelona, the best [football] team in the world and it is the biggest.”

Acknowledging the challenges Honda currently faces, he added, “They are going through a difficult time, that is undeniable, but Barca is also going through it and all the players want to go.”

Although Espargaro has a contract with Aprilia for 2024, he didn’t dismiss the idea of moving to Honda. He stated, “It depends, everything has to be analysed in this life. Why not? As I said before, everyone would go to Barca.”

Espargaro’s teammate, Vinales, was previously rumored to be Marquez’s replacement. However, Vinales clarified, “What am I going to tell you? They haven’t called me. They haven’t called my agent. Neither.” He emphasized his commitment to Aprilia but also acknowledged Honda’s appeal, saying, “If you ask any rider, Honda is a team that everyone wants to go to. Maybe they are not at their best, but five years ago any rider would go with their eyes closed.”

In conclusion, while the MotoGP paddock is rife with speculation, riders like Espargaro and Vinales are keeping their cards close to their chest. Only time will reveal where they will land in the 2024 season.

O conteúdo Aleix Espargaro Contemplates a Potential Move to Honda aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Aleix Espargaró finished no higher than tenth in the MotoGP Indonesian GP, unlike his Aprilia teammate, who secured second place. The choice of the soft rear tire significantly hampered his chances.

The Spaniard said the tyre started to lose performance earlier than he expected: ‘Actually it was earlier than I expected. I expected to at least do the first 18, 20 laps in decent pace, but on the lap ten I started to feel a drop. It’s a shame, really, really a shame, because I had a really good speed during the weekend’.

After making the same mistake for the second time in 2023, Espargaró believes that with a different tyre choice, he could have at least competed for a spot on the podium: ‘Now it’s stupid to say I could win. I felt that I was very, very fast and strong all the weekend. And with the medium tyre maybe I wouldn’t win, but I would fight for the podium. And it was my mistake; it’s the second time this season – I did it in Germany and I did it here. I’m very sorry’.

O conteúdo ‘Now it’s stupid to say I could win’ – Aleix Espargaró aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The MotoGP riders continue to work to create an association to represent them, as the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) in Formula 1. In the last few days, Sylvain Guintoli has emerged as a possible leader in that structure.

Aleix Espargaró highlighted the importance of having an organization to represent the riders: ‘For me, there isn’t a reason. In every sport you have an athletes’ union and I think you need to have it. It’s not about why, it’s necessary. The team bosses, especially in Moto3 and Moto2, can break the contracts whenever they want and they have IRTA, which means racing teams’ association and nothing happens. So, for the riders, I think it’s good to have a riders’ union’.

Asked how an organization like this could do to improve MotoGP, the Spaniard replied: ‘Many things, and also about the schedule, about many other things, the safety. I think it’s not good to start to talk, it’s better to keep it a little bit private, to make it happen because for the moment we just talked with Sylvain’.

Regarding choosing Guintoli to lead the assocation, Espargaró explained: ‘We did a brainstorm and many names came up. I don’t remember who had the idea of Sylvain, but I think Sylvain is a good candidate: he is a good guy, he has a good experience, he speaks good English, he knows the championship, he is still working for Michelin. So, I think he is good’.

O conteúdo ‘It’s necessary to have a riders’ union’ – Aleix Espargaró aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Aleix Espargaró was unable to translate his potential into a podium at the MotoGP Indonesian GP. The rider from Aprilia ended the race in tenth and he is aware of the mistake he did.

The Spaniard addmited he did the wrong tyre choice with the soft rear, and that cost the opportunity to score a strong result: ‘A big mistake by myself, basically, and the team. It’s a team mistake, but I’m the last one who decides, so it’s a big mistake. I had a very bad feeling in the warm-up. Maybe it wasn’t the best tyre in the warm-up. Instead of insisting and put the medium in the race as everybody, I decided to go with the soft. And actually I was expecting the drop maybe a little more far during the race. I’ve lost a good opportunity today’.

Asked about what would have been possible with the medium tyre, Espargaró replied: ‘There is no meaning to tell. I was one of the fastest of the grid since Friday and for sure we would have a big possibility to fight for the podium today. But I made a mistake. It’s just a shame, because in MotoGP it’s difficult to be able to fight for the victories and for the podiums, and to throw an opportunity like this is not really good’.

O conteúdo ‘A big mistake by myself; to throw an opportunity like this is not good’ – Aleix Espargaró aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.