On Saturday, with the soft rear tyre, Aleix Espargaró reigned supreme with pole and victory in the Sprint of the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix. On Sunday, despite logic predicting that the race compound was the average, some riders contradicted logic, including Pedro Acosta, who led the race, and Marc Marquez, who started 14th and finished on the podium, right in front to Aleix by just 52 thousandths of a second.
“The medium rear tire didn’t work well at all, there was no grip at all,” the Catalan complained at the end of the day.
“It was a shame. I couldn’t brake well or ride fast and when I saw that the Ducatis were going away I tried, but they managed to make things work, we didn’t,” he explained.
Aleix had won on Saturday with the soft rear tire and perhaps it would have been his best option for Sunday too, given how his race went.
“It’s difficult to know if with the soft tire I would have been ahead of them,” he said, referring to Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin. “But yesterday with that tire I went like them, similar. Today with the medium tire the Ducatis were strong, it was a shock that they gave us 10 seconds at the finish line, we really didn’t expect it. They did a good job here, they improved a lot, which we haven’t done compared to last year”, when on Sunday the Aprilias had gone 1-2 with Maverick Vinales behind Aleix.
Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia Racing Team, Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Despite narrowly missing out on the podium, Espargaró, who announced his retirement at the end of the season on Thursday, was still over the moon.
“It was a great weekend, also from a sporting point of view, we scored many points, the pole, the victory in the Sprint and fourth place in the race, I think it’s something to be satisfied with. From an emotional point of view I think it’s It was probably the best weekend of my life, with the affection of the people, I will always remember it.”
“Last year’s double victory was impressive and very difficult to beat on a sporting level, but the affection that people showed me this weekend is for me a recognition that has a very, very high value. So perhaps this it will be better, but I will remember them both very fondly.”
“I enjoyed every moment of the weekend, it was difficult not to get caught up in the emotion, I tried to absorb all the good feelings that people gave me.”
In the end Aleix had a small chance to get close to the podium, with Marc Marquez finishing in third place, and after the race he admitted that “I feel very sorry for Aleix, I felt bad taking away the podium from him in his last race here to Barcelona”.
“I tried everything until the end,” Espargaró continued. “I had no traction but I had to try, in the end I had a small chance of getting to the finish line, but I didn’t want to ruin it, I knew we would touch if I tried and it wasn’t the weekend, I think, to do it, nor the place, neither the moment, nor with Marc”, said the “captain”.
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