Aleix Espargaro was hit by Miguel Oliveira at Turn 6 of the first lap of the Sprint in Qatar, fracturing the head of his left fibula. The Aprilia rider also raced on Sunday, but had to withdraw due to pain. This weekend, in the last round of the season, Aleix will try to take part in the Valencia Grand Prix. Even though he hasn’t recovered yet, the Granollers rider has a “mission”: to help his friend Jorge Martin.
“I’m not well, I hope to be much better, in other injuries with two or three days you improve a lot. I’m sad but this time I did my best, but you can’t ask for the impossible, I broke in half on Saturday evening and it’s Thursday, I have a fractured fibula and the problem is that all the ligaments and muscles in my leg are very swollen and I have no mobility in my ankle. In three days it’s difficult to recover. I don’t think about it much, maybe I should have stayed at home and come for the test, but here I am, I’ll get on the bike and we’ll see. Even though I see it as very difficult.”
Besides being a friend and a “godfather”, Aleix is the biggest supporter of Jorge Martín’s chances of winning the MotoGP title: “I give him a lot more chances than most people give, and not for mine friendship. We all have the perception that he is 21 points behind and that there are 25 to go, but there are 37 to go and that’s a lot. On a small circuit like Valencia it is more feasible to catch up. Jorge only has one option, which is to put on a show and go on the attack. I would say that if I had a ten or twelve point advantage I would give more credit to Pecco, but with 21 points you can be tempted to go and protect them, and this is very dangerous.”
Aleix aims to “put on a show and go on the attack”, understood as forming a group at the front to put riders in the middle, not to escape: “Pulling and running away would be the most absurd thing that Jorge could do”, he said before admit that he will try to help him. “I’m one hundred percent ready to give him a hand, that’s one of the reasons why I’m here, in any way I can, talking and on the track. We talked a lot and one thing I’m very proud of is that every time he has an idea or a plan, Jorge, who is more nervous than me, even if it doesn’t seem like it, comes straight away to talk to me about it, we share a lot of things”, he explained .
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team
The meeting with Morbidelli
In addition to the injury, Aleix left Qatar hurt by the clash with Franco Morbidelli, first on the track and then in the statements of each of them. A question that Aleix wanted to resolve this Thursday in Valencia. “I went to Morbidelli’s motorhome to talk to him and apologize. It’s not important whether it was my fault or his: I reacted badly. Those three seconds make me seem like a bad person, and I’m not. That’s why I sat with him on the sofa and I apologized to him”, admitted the Spaniard.
“I will work to understand how to better manage high-tension situations, so as not to repeat what happened. The seasons are getting longer and longer, but I have to learn. I already work with a psychologist, but it’s not like pressing a button. In the last two months I’ve already changed several things in my environment, and that didn’t help me either. Joan (Lacueva, ed), who is a friend of mine and who has traveled with me for the past ten years, no longer works with me. I hope that in 2024 I will do better. I accept criticism. I know what I’ll get for what I say, but I don’t give a damn what they say on social media; I went to talk to Franco because he is what I felt in my heart, “said the eldest of the Espargaró brothers.
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