The best version of the veteran Aprilia rider offers new nuances every time he takes to the track, and this Sunday, in a setting as magnificent as the Cathedral, the Catalan dressed in Marc Márquez’s suit to become the true protagonist of the race despite not being able to even get on the podium.
The clash with Quartararo at the first change (fourth lap) that almost took him to the ground and made him rejoin the track on 15th, was the gasoline that pushed him to carry out the comeback of his life, until he crossed the finish line fourth.
All the fans who were following the event were convinced that he was going to finish sixth, because nobody saw the stratospheric overtaking coming that he pulled out of the hat over Jack Miller and Brad Binder, in the last variant of the circuit, the most recognizable point of the track , for the number of grand prizes that have been settled there.
With this escalation, Espargaró cut 13 points from the Frenchman, still the leader, from which he is now 21 points behind, less than one race.
“I could win and Fabio finished second, and get five points from him, and I got 13. It’s not what I wanted, but not that bad,” summed up, at the foot of the podium and before the DAZN microphones, the runner from Granollers (Barcelona ), who after the mishap with his Yamaha rival, rode absolutely on fire, one fast lap after another, and who set a new record in his chase (lap 15).
“I was very angry because, just two laps before Fabio crashed me, I realized that he had a better bike. It was impressive how fast he was going. I thought: today you win. And when he hit me, it made me very angry,” he added. the Spaniard, who as soon as he finished, received a visit from Quartararo, who went to his garage to apologize.
“There was a moment when I was 14th and I thought: if you fall, you fall, because it was a match point. In the end the reward came in the last variant; I thought it wasn’t coming”, #41 continued, happy for the bite that he has given to his disadvantage with respect to the Devil, but pissed off for not having been able to fight for his second victory in MotoGP.
“It’s a shame because you never know when you’re going to have the next opportunity to win. Here I saw myself as in Argentina [where he achieved his first victory]. I did what I could, a brutal comeback, overtaking very fast drivers,” Espargaró settled.
