Aleix Espargaró’s third place at the Spanish Grand Prix gave Aprilia another podium finish in 2022. After a battle with Jack Miller and Marc Márquez, the rider from Granollers managed to carve out a niche for himself among the fastest riders on the Andalusian circuit.
Through tears, Aleix Espargaró expressed his emotions after climbing the Andalusian podium. “I feel very good and very happy. We have earned it hard”, he introduced after concluding the test, a race that, he assures, has made him “more excited than in the victory of Argentina”.
“I was furious because I saw that I could do much more cornering and not be able to overtake [Jack] Miller and Marc [Márquez], because he braked very well and couldn’t overtake him. He was touching his colins all the time and it was impossible to overtake” .
“I knew that they were going more and more to the limit and that they would make a mistake, and when they did I said ‘now I’m going for it all”, said Aleix, who managed to be half a second faster and open the difference on the last lap.
“It was very difficult mentally, because I was faster than [Jack] Miller and [Marc] Márquez, but I couldn’t overtake them.”
A touch at the start with Marc Márquez could put on the table the clutch problems suffered by the RS-GP.
“It seemed to me that I touched a motorcycle, but it was a clean touch. Once again, the Achilles heel of this Aprilia is the clutch”, admitted the rider from Granollers.
“However, fortunately we are being competitive and I can come out in front. Today I think I could have gone behind Fabio [Quartararo] and Pecco [Bagnaia], at least a few laps, but because of the clutch I had to fight a lot, because I couldn’t overtake them.”
“I tried to wait for them to make a mistake and Jack [Miller] braked early and Marc [Marquez] lost the front end so my race changed and I said ‘this is my time.’
Aleix is second in the championship, less than 10 points behind the leader. These good results mean that the concessions are over for Aprilia, which will not enjoy the help of unlimited tests for 2023.
“We have the speed and it’s amazing what we’re getting.”
“I was on the podium and I remembered when I was little and I was here in Jerez, in the regional championships, and a life later, at 32 years old, I am fighting for the MotoGP world championship.”
“We give normalcy to everything and that’s what it’s all about, that this is normal and that we go for the championship. But it’s not like that. I’m excited and very happy.”
“The reality is that I didn’t have the speed of Fabio and Pecco, so today we had to finish, but I knew I had to be there in case they made a mistake.”
“It’s amazing to see the circuit like this after the pandemic and the global crisis.”
“Having the luxury and pride of being on the podium here is enough to tell my grandchildren about,” concluded the rider from Granollers.
MotoGP results at the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez
| Cla | # | Pilot | Motorcycle | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | Km/h | Abandonment | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 |  Pecco Bagnaia |
 |
Ducati | 25 | – | 25 | ||||
| 2 | 20 |  Fabio Quartararo |
 |
Yamaha | 25 | 0.285 | 0.285 | 0.285 | 20 | ||
| 3 | 41 |  Aleix Espargaró |
 |
April | 25 | 10,977 | 10,977 | 10,692 | 16 | ||
| 4 | 93 | Marc Márquez |
 |
Sling | 25 | 12,676 | 12,676 | 1,699 | 13 | ||
| 5 | 43 |  Jack Miller |
 |
Ducati | 25 | 12,957 | 12,957 | 0.281 | 11 | ||
| 6 | 36 | Joan Mir |
 |
Suzuki | 25 | 13.934 | 13.934 | 0.977 | 10 | ||
| 7 | 30 |  Takaaki Nakagami |
 |
Honda | 25 | 14,929 | 14,929 | 0.995 | 9 | ||
| 8 | 23 | Enea Bastianini |
 |
Ducati | 25 | 18,436 | 18,436 | 3,507 | 8 | ||
| 9 | 72 | Marco Bezzecchi |
 |
Ducati | 25 | 18,830 | 18,830 | 0.394 | 7 | ||
| 10 | 33 |  Brad Binder |
 |
KTM | 25 | 20.056 | 20.056 | 1.226 | 6 | ||
| eleven | 44 | Pol Espargaro |
 |
Sling | 25 | 20,856 | 20,856 | 0.800 | 5 | ||
| 12 | 88 |  Miguel Oliveira |
 |
KTM | 25 | 23,131 | 23,131 | 2,275 | 4 | ||
| 13 | 73 | Alex Marquez |
 |
Sling | 25 | 25,306 | 25,306 | 2,175 | 3 | ||
| 14 | 12 | Maverick Viñales |
 |
Aprilia | 25 | 27.358 | 27.358 | 2.052 | 2 | ||
| 15 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli |
|
Yamaha | 25 | 27,519 | 27,519 | 0.161 | 1 | ||
| 16 | 10 | Luca Marini |
 |
Ducati | 25 | 29,278 | 29,278 | 1,759 | |||
| 17 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso |
 |
Yamaha | 25 | 35,204 | 35,204 | 5.926 | |||
| 18 | 49 | Fabio Di Giannantonio |
|
Ducati | 25 | 35,361 | 35,361 | 0.157 | |||
| 19 | 42 | Alex Rins |
|
Suzuki | 25 | 38.922 | 38.922 | 3.561 | |||
| 20 | 87 | Remy Gardner |
 |
KTM | 25 | 43.378 | 43.378 | 4.456 | |||
| 21 | 32 | Lorenzo Savadori |
 |
Aprilia | 25 | 44,299 | 44,299 | 0.921 | |||
| 22 | 89 | Jorge Martin |
 |
Ducati | 25 | 1’07,681 | 1’07,681 | 23,382 | |||
| 6 |  Stefan Bradl |
Honda | 10 | Abandono | |||||||
| 5 | Johann Zarco |
 |
Ducati | 9 | Abandonment | ||||||
| 40 | Darryn Binder |
 |
Yamaha | 5 | Abandono |
