MotoGP | Espargaro: “I put pressure on Pecco and he made a mistake”

There are no longer any big doubts about the fact that Aleix Espargaro is the King of Barcelona and not only because the Catalan track is located a few kilometers from Granollers, his hometown. After the double in 2013, the Aprilia rider had a dream Saturday, signing pole position, complete with a record, and then taking victory in a Sprint which was a true elimination race.

With the very little grip offered by the asphalt, it was essential not to put stress on the tires and whoever exaggerated paid for it at a distance. The curious thing, in fact, is that three riders crashed when they were in the lead: first it was Raul Fernandez’s turn to reveal himself at turn 9 on the fifth lap. Two returns later to Brad Binder at turn 5. But the most sensational was the crash in the same point of the reigning world champion Pecco Bagnaia, because it happened right on the last lap, serving the success to a Aleix who was there to put pressure on him with just over half a second.

“It’s nice to go fast, stay in front and put on a show, but the important thing is to get to the end. You also have to use your head, because we knew it would be a very tactical race. When I saw that they were lapping in 1’39” low, I I said that it made no sense to try to keep this pace with the little grip there was and with the steering constantly closing”, Espargaro told Sky Sport MotoGP, underlining how fundamental it was to always remain calm and manage .

“In fact, they started making mistakes up front and little by little I was able to overtake both Martin and Acosta. Then when I approached Bagnaia the pressure in my front tire increased, so I preferred to stay within half a second and push to see if he would have made a mistake, and he did,” he added.

Despite the mistake, Aleix wanted to pay homage to the very decisive race that Bagnaia had made up to that point: “With Pecco I had an option to pass him, because I was on the inside, but he closed and I tried to be clean because I didn’t want to touch him. When you lose an opportunity with a fast rider like him, it’s always difficult to have another one. It’s a good thing that in the end I was able to put pressure on him and that he made a mistake, but I had rarely seen such an incisive Pecco , so bad. Today he deserved the victory.”

Finally, he also dedicated a caress to Fernandez, who for the first time found himself fighting for the top positions with the Trackhouse Aprilia: “Raul was very fast today, but if you get in front, in free air, so am I. , Pecco and Pedro could have done two such explosive laps, but then we know that you end up messing up the tires and you’re finished. I hope Raul is happy with his speed, it’s great to see another Aprilia in front, but he has to understand that he has to be more calm, because the races are very long.”