Aleix Espargaró: "Moto2 will regret rejecting Aprilia"

July 6, 2021

Aprilia contacted several riders last year to get on the RS-GP and team up with Espargaró this season after Andrea Iannone was sanctioned for doping.

As well as Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow, Aprilia spoke ahead of 2021 with Moto2 riders Marco Bezzecchi, Joe Roberts and Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Bezzecchi and Roberts declined the offer and preferred to continue in Moto2, while Di Giannantonio already had a contract with Gresini in MotoGP for 2022, when he will no longer continue with Aprilia.

Former WorldSBK rider Lorenzo Savadori ended up taking the second bike, but Aprilia has already said it will go after Maverick Viñales in 2022 after parting ways with Yamaha.

The 2021 RS-GP is the best bike Noale ‘s brand has ever designed in the modern era of MotoGP. Espargaró has regularly finished in the top six and not far from the podium.

Although he did not want to talk about the Viñales option, the Catalan believes that Aprilia “deserves” a top-level rider and believes that the Moto2 riders who passed up the option for 2021 rejected “a great opportunity”.

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

“I have said many times that I felt very bad when Massimo [Rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing] told me that next year we would not have two more bikes on the track,” Espargaró said when asked if the Viñales link was good for Aprilia’s image.

“Also, when some Moto2 riders said they didn’t want to join us, I got really angry. I love Aprilia, I love this project, I’m sorry and I want to prove them wrong.”

“These Moto2 riders who have not wanted to come, I think they will not be happy in the future because they have lost a great opportunity and I hope that next year my teammate will be a very strong rider because we deserve it as we work very hard. , because we are not far from the best brands in the world”.

Gresini Racing , which has managed Aprilia’s official structure in MotoGP since 2015, will become Ducati’s satellite team next year, and has already signed Enea Bastianini as Di Giannantonio’s teammate.

Bezzecchi is the favorite to join Luca Marini on the VR46 in 2022, who will also ride Ducati, while Roberts has been linked with Red Bull KTM Ajo in Moto2.