The 35-year-old Aprilia rider will end his career as a full-time MotoGP rider at the end of this season and will join Honda as a test rider from next season.
In a moment of great turmoil, Aleix Espargaro, one of the most outspoken riders on the grid, strongly criticized the attitude of some team principals, who prefer to choose experienced riders, even if their results are disappointing, rather than fast youngsters with a bright future ahead of them. In particular, on Thursday at the Red Bull Ring, the number 41 referred to the cases of Jack Miller and Franco Morbidelli.
The Australian, who a month ago seemed destined to leave the MotoGP paddock, is about to sign for Prima Pramac Racing, where he will team up with Miguel Oliveira. Morbidelli, in turn, will move from Paolo Campinoti’s team to VR46, where Valentino Rossi, his mentor, will make room for him alongside Fabio Di Giannantonio.
“I’m not going to comment on any of this, because I’d be getting myself into a mess,” Espargaro initially responded when asked directly about the Miller case.
“If I tell you what I think about this thing and someone else who will end up at VR46… I get along well with Jack, we are neighbors and he just became a father, and I know he likes motorcycles a lot, much more than me. I am very happy that he can still be here. But there is a much worse case,” he said, referring to Morbidelli, who has not been on the podium since 2021, when he was riding a Petronas SRT Yamaha. After leaving the Japanese manufacturer at the end of last year, the Roman rider has climbed onto the latest version of the Ducati, the GP24 of Prima Pramac Racing, with which he has so far managed to do no better than a fifth place in Germany.
Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“Morbidelli’s case is worse than Miller’s. There’s nothing wrong with him staying in MotoGP, but when you have a winning bike for so many years in a row and your teammates always beat you, in every race and in every qualifying, it doesn’t seem right to me that young people aren’t given the opportunity,” argued the Catalan, who feels he has the right to speak frankly because he sets an example.
“I’ve decided to step back next year, because I feel like I’m not a thousand percent like these young guys who are growing up. I don’t have the desire to race anymore and it doesn’t seem right to continue here,” said Espargaro, who instead applauds the courage shown by Trackhouse Racing in betting on Ai Ogura.
“The fact that a team manager like Davide Brivio has decided to focus on someone like Ogura is a big shout out. I think Ai is very good; he is aggressive, he works alone. I think he is a great signing and the best thing Trackhouse could have done,” concluded the Aprilia rider.
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