With the retirement of Valentino Rossi at the end of the season, Aleix Espargaro will become the second oldest rider on the MotoGP grid in 2022, behind Andrea Dovizioso. The Catalan from Aprilia made his debut in the premier class in 2009 with Pramac Racing as a replacement for Mika Kalllio, who in turn replaced Casey Stoner in Ducati for four races.
The performance of the Granollers driver meant that he found a starting spot the following year. But in 2012 he was forced to relegate to Moto2 with Pons, but only for a year. Aspar had in fact hired him in the intermediate class in 2013, but in the end he had the opportunity to return with a CRT to MotoGP, where he still races today.
In recent years, the eldest of the Espargaro brothers has already competed in 195 races, placing himself in the top 10 of the drivers with the most presence of all time. Next weekend, at the Algarve Grand Prix, the 32-year-old Spaniard will join Colin Edwards in eighth position on this list. In this way, Aleix will equal the Texan also as a rider with the most races in MotoGP without ever having won one.
In fact, Edwards spent 12 seasons in MotoGP, where he also became an official Aprilia and Yamaha rider. During that time, the two-time World Superbike champion took 12 podiums, but he never managed to go beyond second position. The closest he came to winning was in Assen in 2016 when he crashed at the last chicane while he was first after going green.
For his part, Aleix Espargaro boasts only two podiums in MotoGP. The first was at Aragon in 2014, when he finished second, while the last one won him this year in the British GP, crossing the line in third position. Furthermore, the Catalan, of the 10 riders with the highest number of 500cc / MotoGP races without having won, is the only one who has not succeeded in the other classes of the world championship together with Edwards.
The 10 riders with the most 500cc / MotoGP races but who never won
Pos. | Pilot | Competitions |
1 | Colin Edwards | 196 |
2 | Aleix Espargaró * | 195 |
3 | Álvaro Bautista | 158 |
4 | Randy de Puniet | 140 |
5 | Héctor Barberá | 139 |
6 | Pol Espargaró * | 134 |
7 | Shinya Nakano | 132 |
8 | Karel Abraham | 122 |
9 | Bradley Smith | 119 |
10 | Jeremy McWilliams | 118 |
* In business
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