Espargaró furious: “Marc has been roaming the track for a year waiting for others”

The first day of practice at Jerez didn’t end as Aleix Espargaró hoped, but it is something else entirely that has annoyed him. During the day, the Spaniard crossed paths (against his will) with Marc Marquez, who was looking for a tow, something that doesn't sit well with Aleix.

“From the images, it’s clear what happened. Marc has been doing the same thing for a year now, roaming the track waiting for other riders, and that’s not normal. Today Pol came close to crashing - attacks Aleix – then Gardner, then Oliveira, then me. He waited for me for a minute, I saw him at the end of the straight when I was a kilometre away. Why does he do it? I don’t understand but it’s embarrassing, and he ruined my lap. The only explanation is that he’s lacking confidence. In 2020 he was a second a lap faster than us, it was like he was racing against the Moto2 bikes. But now he needs an Aprilia to be able to make a fast lap on Friday? It really makes me angry”.

Let’s talk about your day. How did it go?

“If you look at the timesheets, it wasn’t a great day but that’s not actually the case. Things went well both this morning and this afternoon, particularly with the race tyre, or the medium. Unfortunately, I had problems with the soft solution, so when making my time attack. First I came across traffic, then there was a little chattering at the rear, something that happened to me last year too”.

Espargaró: “If I continue to do well, I’ll have valid options for 2023"

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So the problem is only the flying lap?

“Exactly, I set the same time with both the used medium and the new soft, while other riders lowered their times by half a second. Usually the best times come in FP3, so I’m not worried”.

This is round six and Aprilia is always more or less up at the front. Can we say the bike is mature?

“We have a good base, so now we need to improve but without overdoing it. I get on well with this bike and am having fun, which is important”.

How willing are you to wait for a proposal from Aprilia?

“I’m more relaxed than it might seem. I’m experiencing the best moment of my career, and I’m sure that if I continue to do well, I’ll have valid options for the future. Let’s say the longer we wait, the more things swing in my favour (he laughs)”.

Translated by Heather Watson

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