Cheste.- The upward inertia that Aprilia followed in recent years coincided in time with the sporting decline of the Italian multi-champion, a circumstance that led Aleix Espargaró and Valentino Rossi to ride together and measure each other short in several races, especially in 2020. For the eldest of the brothers from Granollers (Barcelona), sharing space with one of the most influential athletes in history is something that he will take with him forever, and that he will proudly tell his descendants about.
“Running with Rossi has been like playing with Messi at Barça or with Jordan at the Bulls. When I am older I will be able to tell my grandchildren that I shared the track with him”, said Espargaró, who once again circulated very close to the #46 , so much so that he finished the test just in front of him.
The course has had all the flavors for Catalan. On the one hand, the evolution of the RS-GP has been the most evident in recent years, with the Silverstone podium as the highlight. However, in the last section of the championship the bike did not grow with the same speed, but rather the opposite happened, offering the Spaniard some not entirely pleasant sensations, especially instability, translated into the eight falls accumulated in the last six races, when before he added nine in the first 12 appointments of the calendar.
“If we analyze the forest in general and do not focus on the trees in particular, it has been a good year. Too bad about the last period, in which the performance of the bike was not what we expected. The season has gone well but we want more”, conceded #41 , who finally finished eighth in the general points table, 22 behind Marc Márquez (seventh). This Thursday, Espargaró will get on the first version of the 2022 prototype in Jerez, which was already put on the track this week in Italy by a test team.
On the Andalusian circuit, the split between Aprilia and the Gresini structure will be seen, which will separate after seven years. For Aleix, the day-to-day will not change too much: “I am not going to change a single person on my team. A mechanic and an engineer leave, but apart from that, nothing more”.
(Click on this link or on the image to see the photos of the 2021 Valencia GP MotoGP race)
