The runner born just five kilometers from the circuit warned in the run-up that he was coming to his home race at the best moment of his life and that he was not willing to miss out on the opportunity that life has put before him after so many years breaking stone.
The Aprilia rider dominated the first day of practice for the Catalunya Grand Prix with an iron fist, eliciting words of admiration from his rivals.
“If the race had been today, Aleix would have won outstandingly, his performance has surprised me,” said Enea Bastianini, a three-time winner this year.
“Aleix is in a fabulous moment and the Aprilia has improved a lot, it really is a clear candidate to win,” added Bagnaia, who arrives with his Ducati to win at Mugello.
At the end of the day, Aleix was asked if he felt like the king of the world… “It’s incredible, I have 30 journalists around me and Nadal is playing at Roland Garros”, exclaimed the man from Aprilia.
“When we say that the difficult thing is fighting for the rear seats, falling and having to get up, it is not a cliché, it is the pure reality. Being in front you do not suffer, you are relaxed, you have a good time and you enjoy it. It is the home grand prix but I don’t feel any pressure, I just wanted to go out on the track and show everyone that I’m going very fast, and being able to do it because the bike is with you is a luxury. I’m calm”, he assessed.
With Aprilia’s one-two at the end of the day this Friday, Aleix was asked if he saw any chance of achieving a historic 1-2 on Sunday in the race.
“I see that we already skipped Saturday (laughs). Hopefully, it would be brutal to get an Aprilia double on Sunday, but this track is very difficult, the tire fall is very high, the wheel spins a lot and although in this sport it is going fast, the fastest doesn’t always win, and this is one of the tracks where being the fastest doesn’t guarantee you win, although it gives you a lot of numbers, of course. enough tire to have options, this track devours the tyres”.
“We have been constant, with the medium tire I have been very fast, I have been superior ten laps, but we have to see from lap eleven or twelve, nobody has taken the tires to the end this Friday, we will see tomorrow in FP4 if they hold on.”
Aleix has ceased, this year, to be the nice guy from Aprilia who always gave his opinion on everything and made headlines, but who did not worry his rivals.
“Rivola said it when we won in Argentina, he warned us that if we continue like this we would stop liking him. Livio Suppo said that if they can’t win the championship (Suzuki) he would like me to win it, and those things are exciting. The truth is that everything that is happening this year is very strange and if we keep winning it will continue to be so”.
“Winning here on Sunday would be brutal, I’ve never been on the podium in Barcelona, so imagine winning here, don’t let anyone look for me on Monday in the tests,” he joked.
Bastianini, in addition to admitting that he was surprised by Aleix’s performance and that today he would have won the race, also said that it was only Friday and that motivation does not make you gain a few tenths.
“I absolutely subscribe to what Enea has said, but I’d rather have done what I’ve done today than what he’s done. Everyone tells you today is only Friday, yes, it’s true, but I’d rather have my rhythm than the his, and on Sunday, we’ll see,” he settled.
