Espargaró: “I think Márquez is going to try to win”

September 24, 2022

Motegi.- Despite the complicated conditions of the track as a result of the rain, Aleix Espargaró kept his pulse to continue pursuing the dream of becoming MotoGP world champion and took a step forward in his aspirations of starting a good result in the race that this Sunday will close the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix.

The Aprilia rider managed to qualify sixth in Q2 this Saturday and will start from second on the grid, a good position to try to reach the funnel of the first braking without getting into too much trouble, while the two riders who precede him in The general of the championship, the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo and the Italian Pecco Bagnaia, will start ninth and 12th, respectively.

“It’s been a very complicated day from the start. I’m happy, both because of the grid position and because of my feelings”, explained Aleix at the end of the rainy day.

“Sixth is a good place on the grid, and if I hadn’t made a mistake in the first corner, I would have been able to fight for pole,” the Spanish rider was convinced.

For Aleix, starting out ahead of Fabio and Pecco gives him extra peace of mind, since that allows him, a priori, not to be forced to attack all the laps.

“We have done 50% of the work, at the start we will have done the other half,” he conceded in case everything goes well when the traffic light goes out.

“Pecco is coming out very fast, but coming back is not easy,” he said of the Italian, who starts two rows further back in heavy traffic.

Although the conditions this Saturday were completely wet and rainy, the race is expected to take place this Sunday (8 am Spanish time) without water.

“It is difficult to predict what can happen in the dry. We have changed the bike a lot,” he said.

On the issue of Fabio and Pecco starting further back, Aleix gave him courage.

“It’s not easy to come back here, because you can subject the tires to a lot of stress. I don’t know if I’ll copy my rivals or if I’ll try to go against it, to try to get more advantage,” regarding the choice of tyres.

On paper, Aleix starts with a slight advantage that, in any case, has to be finished during the race.

“You have to use your head, but I want to win. Obviously I will have to know where they are, but it is not easy to predict the scenario that we will have tomorrow.”

Aleix sets high goals, but the pole went to Marc Márquez who is absolutely unpredictable at the moment.

“Marc is fast, we’ll see if his physique conditions him or not. I don’t think he won’t hold out. I don’t see why he won’t hold out. I think he’s going to try to win,” he bet.

Where the Catalan sees more doubts is in the performance of the Ducati this weekend.

“I’m a little confused about Ducati. Pecco has said he doesn’t want team orders. I understand Enea’s position, but can Ducati risk losing this championship?”

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team