Many years will pass before it is forgotten that Aleix Espargaró, in the best year of his sporting life, lost the podium of his home Grand Prix, in Barcelona, for thinking that the race had finished a lap early. Such was the decline of the Aprilia rider that, to clear his mind, he decided to go on vacation, although this Thursday, in the run-up to the German Grand Prix, he was repeatedly reminded of it.
“I will try to quickly forget what happened, when I get on the bike this Friday I will no longer remember,” he said.
“It was hard for me to get it out of my head, on Sunday night I couldn’t sleep, in the test on Monday it was hard for me to stay focused and on Wednesday, training with the bike, which is what I like the most, it was hard for me not to think about it “, described the anguish experienced.
“In the end I decided to go with my family, my wife and my children, to Disneyland Paris, forget about diet and training, and it has gone very well for me. I have forgotten what happened, it was an absurd mistake, but when you are fighting for the title everything gets bigger, like a mountain. I hope to cut points this weekend”.
For the Catalan Sachsenring it is presented as a good opportunity, not in vain last year he was fighting in the front positions until the rain appeared.
“Germany has always been a good circuit for Aprilia and for me, we have been competitive the last two seasons, last year I was fighting until the end, but it started to rain and I finished just two seconds off the podium. This year with the bike that we have I think it will be a good opportunity for us, I want to have fun and do a good lap on Saturday in Q2 to be able to fight for the podium on Sunday”, he set himself as a goal.
The World Championship now faces two races in a row, Sachsenring and Assen, before the long summer break.
“I have the feeling that two vital races are coming, I have 30 points over the third (general), but I am 22 behind Fabio, so I hope to cut enough these two weekends to be able to have a good summer, the objective is fight for the podium in both races, but whatever happens, this year I deserve a good holiday.”
In addition to the error on the penultimate lap, Aleix also made a mistake in the conservative strategy of saving tires at the beginning of the race, influenced by the persistent recommendations of the tire supplier and the team.
“I was very angry because, apart from my ‘mistake’, with all the work we had done, although they want the best for me, without a doubt, they were very concerned with the duration of the tire and we were conservative. When I realized It was too late after the mistake, in three laps Quartararo took three seconds off us and I couldn’t chase him anymore. In Barcelona I had the pace to be with Fabio and I was very angry about the conservative strategy we chose. You always have to go out at full speed and in the end manage With what you have, we have learned the lesson and we have had a meeting so that the situation does not happen again,” he revealed.
Finally, Aleix was asked about the news after the Barcelona test, not in vain Aprilia is still the only factory with concessions.
“In Barcelona Maverick Viñales and I tested a fairing and we saw that the bike turned better in the long corners, and it held the line better, we plan to use it tomorrow and also some electronic element that we tested in the test. I hate the tests on Monday, but the one from Barcelona allowed us to incorporate many new elements that can help us the rest of the season”, warned the one from Granollers.
