Aleix Espargaró is undoubtedly one, if not the biggest protagonist of the weekend in Barcelona. After weeks of speculation, the Spanish rider announced his decision to retire as a full-time MotoGP rider at the end of the racing season on Thursday, in an emotional press conference in the company of his family and several riders and friends.
But the decision didn’t slow him down, on the contrary. Montmeló is a circuit that adapts very well to Aprilia, thanks to the low grip conditions, and the Granollers rider, as he has already demonstrated with his 2023 victories, confirmed this Friday that he is the reference. He dominated the tests with a time of 1’38″562, beating Pecco Bagnaia’s 2022 record by 77 thousandths of a second, and commanding a Top 3 without Ducati riders.
At the end of the day Espargaró said that the morning tests were a little more complicated than expected and that the record was therefore not in his plans. A milestone that reminded him that he will miss his profession once everything is over in Valencia: “This morning it took me a while to adapt and I didn’t expect to reach the record. After the last lap I thought how much I will miss him.”
However, number 41 does not regret his decision: “This morning, when I woke up and had breakfast, I was convinced that I had made the right decision. I went out on track very happy. I am convinced that I am in the best moment of my career “I’m going fast, I feel competitive and the others are going very fast. Furthermore, I think I’m stronger than ever,” he said.
Although everyone points to the RS-GP as the favorite at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Espargaró does not see such superiority in 2024. In fact, Maverick Vinales ranked only tenth, with a delay of almost half a second. “Today I struggled a little more than last year, I think the gap in our favor is smaller than then,” he confessed. For this reason he keeps his feet on the ground: “It’s only Friday, there’s still a long way to go.”
Aleix analyzed his rivals with the Desmosedici GP, who were behind, with Bagnaia fourth, Jorge Martín sixth and even Marc Marquez twelfth, out of Q2: “Here the Ducati is unable to transfer all the power that the bike has to the ground” .
Finally, speaking about the official Borgo Panigale team, the veteran once again pushed his friend Martin’s candidacy: “If he doesn’t sign for the official Ducati team, I think it would be completely unfair. He deserves to become champion with the bike of the his dreams,” he concluded.
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