Espargaró: "The concessions help, I'm not stupid, but I don't like them"

Starting in 2016, the MotoGP World Championship introduced the concessions system to help teams with technical inequality, such as Ducati at the time, or new ones that were arriving in the championship, such as Suzuki, KTM or Aprilia, a system that offered them some advantages in engine development and private testing days. The norm indicates that adding six points (three for a victory, two for a second place and one for a third) in two years, the concessions are lost. First it was Ducati, then Suzuki, who took them back and lost again, last year it was KTM. The only one that continues with them is Aprilia, which now has five points and is only one third place away from losing them.

The magnificent results of Aleix Espargaró, who last year was third at Silverstone, adding the first podium for Noale’s house, and who this year achieved his first victory, in Argentina, finishing off a great start to the season with third place in Portimao last Sunday, that means that a new podium would put an end to these important aids, something that Noala’s bosses have foreseen and, in fact, they already work as if they were not going to have them.

For Espargaró, true leader on the Aprilia project track, losing the concessions is not only no problem, but he is looking forward to it.

“Perhaps some engineers at Noale are a little more concerned than I am, but I don’t like concessions,” maintains the man from Granollers.

“I’m not stupid, I know that this system has helped us, but I don’t like them at all, and I think I have shown that I am riding at a very good level and that the Aprilia RS-GP is at a good level”, enough to no longer need that extra push.

“If we weren’t at a great level, it would be impossible to do these results. So from now on I think we have a good base and I hope that in Jerez we lose the concessions”, he points out.

In any case, if the sixth point is added, Aprilia would lose part of the concessions automatically, such as free testing, but it would maintain until the end of the year the possibility of using 9 engines (the rest 7) and six wild cards (the rest three), not ruling out Dorna abolishing the concessions once the Italian house loses them.

No pressure

The truth is that the step forward taken by Aprilia since the middle of last season and, above all, at the beginning of this one, places it as a reality on a par with its rivals, even though Aleix did not expect to be at this point in the course.

“I did not expect it at all. We are in the fight for the championship after the fifth race, that’s for sure. We are only three points behind last year’s champion, Fabio Quartararo,” he recalled.

“So I expected to have a high level this year, but maybe not that high.

At 32 years old, the eldest of the Granollers brothers is in the best moment of his career.

“I think I’m driving at a good level, but I think I was at a great level last year as well.”

“But you have to have a competitive bike, and this year Aprilia has brought a competitive bike that suits my riding style.”

For Espargaró, despite his extensive experience in the World Cup, it is the first time he has seen himself in one of these, something that is not causing him a problem.

“This year I have shown that I am strong with this bike. Honestly, I don’t feel pressure.”

“I’m not thinking about the championship, I’m super relaxed, enjoying this moment a lot. It’s taken me a long time to get to this point in my career.”

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Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia Racing

1/50 _

Photo by: Dorna

Podium: Race winner Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, second place Johann Zarco, Pramac Racing, third place Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing

2 / 50

Photo by: Dorna

Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia Racing

3 / 50

Photo by: Dorna

Podium: Johann Zarco, Pramac Racing, Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia Racing

4 / 50

Photo by: Dorna

Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia Racing

5 / 50

Photo by: Dorna

Podium: Race winner Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, second place Johann Zarco, Pramac Racing, third place Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing

6 / 50

Photo by: Dorna

Podium: Winner Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Johann Zarco, Pramac Racing, Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia Racing Team