Malaysia MotoGP, Aleix Espargaró: “Stop Bagnaia? Almost impossible"

As the Malaysian GP gets underway this weekend, Aleix Espargaró prepares to compete in his 300th MotoGP race. An incredibly high number that tells of a long career, one in which he has been wearing Aprilia colours since 2017. And now, for the first time in his life, the Spaniard is fighting for the title in the top class. As for this latest milestone, Aleix had this to say in the pre-race press conference: “I’m happy and also proud. Even reaching MotoGP is the dream of every kid who rides. But to have such a long career is even better. To have 300 races on my CV is incredible. I saw the list the other day and couldn’t believe it.”

 The championship challenge

This weekend has a particular flavour for Aleix, as he continues to fight for the title despite a 27-point deficit. Francesco Bagnaia is the rider to beat, considering he has a first match point in Malaysia, and Aleix has set a clear goal: “We’ll try to stop Pecco, which won’t be easy considering what he’s done in recent races and throughout the second half of the season. It’s almost impossible, his performance has been incredible”. But one thing lies in the Spaniard’s favour: “I can risk a little more, I can be more aggressive in these last two races and perhaps do better at Valencia”.

First, he wants to set out on the right foot at Sepang: “Aprilia can be competitive at this track”. A track at which he completed a positive test at the start of the year: “We were strong and consistent in terms of pace, but we’re not the only ones who’ve improved between February and now”. 

Lessons learned for 2023

He hasn’t been able to stick with the frontrunners in recent races: “At the races where we had no data, we lost time in making changes and things. We made too many mistakes and were a little too slow to adapt to new tracks”. But we learn from our mistakes of course: “This is a good lesson for us for the future. We’re lost many points but if we can learn and change our way of working while also collating data, I think we can be strong next season”. Generally though, he can be more than satisfied with the 2022 season: “The improvements Aprilia has made are incredible and I’m very proud of what’s been done. But if I think about the title, we can’t reach Pecco’s level.”

Traslated by Heather Watson