Espargaró arrived at Aprilia in 2017 , two seasons after the return of the Italian brand to the premier class after many years of absence. The project has gone through very difficult times, but in the last two years steps forward have always been taken, culminating this Sunday with the first podium for Noale’s house in the MotoGP era.
At the end of the race, joy and euphoria reigned in the team’s garage, especially for a man like Aleix Espargaró who has borne the brunt of that development.
“There has been a moment when the feeling was more of having a weight lifted than of euphoria. I am very happy that this podium has come in such a tough and competitive race. It has not been a day that we have achieved it because of falls of others or because of the rain. We have knocked a lot to the door and we have finally entered the podium. From now on we will be able to grow even more”, explained Aleix at the end of the race.
“It has been very nice to share it with my team and with my wife, who have supported me a lot during these difficult years with Aprilia, especially Laura ”, referring to his wife.
On the last lap and after being in podium position for almost the entire race, Jack Miller overtook the Spaniard and almost snatched the box from him, but Aleix’s reaction was instantaneous, risking everything for another overtake to finish third.
“It couldn’t be easy to achieve, it had to be difficult. At first I was scared because the bike stopped. Then I reduced a gear and it started again. I was able to recover but Fabio had already gone ahead. I saved a tire to fight on the last lap because I knew I was going to need it. In the end we have achieved a podium that we deserved for many races”, he insisted.
(Before reading on, click on this link or on the image to see the best photos of the 2021 British GP MotoGP race)
In the end, the winner of the race, Quartararo , opted for the front soft rubber, which perhaps gave him a plus.
“Honestly, soft rubber was not an option for us. I wasn’t as fast as I could have been, but I couldn’t make any mistakes. The temperature has not risen as expected. The middle front wouldn’t let me turn the bike. We have suffered, but it was the best option for us”, he explained.
After this enormous success, Aleix does not want to stop.
“Now I want more. Hopefully tomorrow we will race in Aragon . I don’t want to get off the podium for the rest of the year and we are going to take advantage of the moment to make a better bike for next year. We have to take advantage of the inertia and be very well prepared for next year”, settled the man from Granollers.
