Alcañiz is one of those weekends that Aleix Espargaró has marked on his calendar with an X, as it is held at one of his favorite circuits, where in 2014 he achieved his first podium in MotoGP (Forward Yamaha).
The Spaniard is still in contention for the title despite having been beaten in the last round (Misano) by Pecco Bagnaia. Espargaró occupies third place in the statistics, with 33 points less than Fabio Quartararo, the leader, and three less than Bagnaia, the second.
On paper, the Catalan had planned to go completely on the attack, but the two falls suffered on Friday affected his confidence, how could it be otherwise. Despite this, Espargaró recovered on Saturday at noon and managed to place fourth on the grid for this Sunday’s race, the best placed among the riders who do not compete with a Ducati.
“The two accidents on Friday took away my confidence, and in the third free practice I wasn’t too fast. In the fourth I started to get my feeling back, and then I focused a lot on doing a flat lap in qualifying and I’m satisfied with that fourth square”, summed up the Catalan, who chose not to think too much about the difference between reality and the expectations that he himself had created for this event: “Before arriving here I expected to fight for pole position, but the three Ducati They are very strong up front”.
Despite the tension accumulated in these first two days of activity on the track, the #41 has no intention of going out to slow down , especially because, unlike what happens to the leader, he has no room to do so.
“I will not focus on Quartararo, but on the one who goes first. The calculator can only be taken out by Quartararo, I do not have calculators. I will go out to the fullest, but the Ducati are very strong”, deepened the eldest of the Granollers brothers ( Barcelona), which, yes, is fully aware of the advantage that the great power that hides in its belly gives the Ducati , and that is so noticeable in Motorland.
“The race will be difficult because the Ducatis are very fast on the straight. Fabio and I lose about 10 kilometers per hour. That means we have to accelerate more than them, and destroy the rubber before. That will be one of the keys.” settled Espargaro.
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