Aleix Espargaro is the veteran of the grid… And not just because of his age! The way he rides his Aprilia is in stark contrast to the style of the new generation, which Marc Marquez has described as characterized by an aggressive riding style, with a lot of cornering speed and increasingly more lean angle. Characteristics that decrease when they become aware of the need to preserve the tires.
“The new generations are arriving in MotoGP and they ride differently,” explained the Gresini Racing rider in Portimao. “Before I used the elbow, now they use the shoulder! Martin, Pedro and other riders use their body a lot. It's one of the elements you have to understand in riding.”
“You can see that Aleix Espargaro is very fast with a completely 'old style' riding style,” added Marquez. “You have to adapt to the performance, the bike and the team to find the best solution.”
Espargaro hasn't had the start to the season he was hoping for, with eighth place in both Qatar and Portugal, but he has achieved a total of three victories in the last two seasons and his riding allowed him to make the difference in the Catalan GP last year, where many riders complained about a lack of grip. He often manages to conserve the tires better, which he attributes to his softer style on the bike.
“Over the last two years, with Romano (Albesiano, Aprilia Technical Director) and the engineers, we have tried to analyze the advantages and negative aspects of riding of this type, and it emerged that it affects the tires quite a lot,” described Espargaro. “In some points it goes well, in others it doesn't. He is not one of the technicians, but in the team there is a very good boy, Matteo Baiocco, who analyzes everything, makes videos and we often talk about it.”
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“But there are many points where I have a big advantage, more than you think. Nowadays it is not necessary to push the bike so much with your head on the ground, because there is a lot of downforce, so the bikes are very easier to drive. If you remove a little weight in certain points, you put much less stress on the tires. It's not the most beautiful driving style, that's for sure, but it's effective.”
This riding style bears even more fruit on the Aprilia, whose development has been led mainly by Espargaro in recent years, resulting in a bike totally adapted to his characteristics. Miguel Oliveira stated that he would like to be inspired by this non-aggressive driving style, but that his small size makes it difficult. In any case, Espargaro remains the point of reference for Aprilia, and he is happy about it.
“In the last few seasons I have had many strong riders at my side and you can say that I am a hard worker and everything you want, but in the end you have to go fast, and I am very fast. This year I have Raul (Fernandez) , Miguel and Maverick (Vinales), who are very talented, so that means my riding style isn't that bad.”
With Léna Buffa
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