Aleix Espargaro He put the finishing touches on his sports career with a real race. The Captain defended himself tooth and nail against Bastianini to help Jorge Martin. He wanted to prevent Enea from overtaking his friend or even overtaking him in a risky way, sending the MotoGP world champion to the ground. He admits to having “given everything for this sport” and to having “emptied himself”. Moreover, he was very happy to have been able to help Martinateur and participate in his title despite criticism from Bastianini for not attacking his friend.
He 41 He did not hesitate to respond to Bastianini, who criticized Aleix for not seeking the podium: “I would tell Enea that I expected him to fight for the podium, but I didn’t see it to arrive.” The Aprilia rider was satisfied with his sporting career: “I don’t know how I’m doing. I had a huge drop in stress when I crossed the finish line. It was an impressive weekend. I am very grateful and I feel very lucky. Experiencing what I experienced this weekend, saying goodbye at home after 20 years with my friends and family, what Aprilia did for me this weekend, being close to the pole and the podium at 35 years… I was able to help Jorge win the World Cup, I am very grateful“.
Espargaró said it seemed like everyone was against Martín: “From the outside all weekend gave the feelingwhich is logical and understandable, that all Ducati riders came together to retain this title At home, it’s logical and normal. Jorge was alone in the face of danger, I was the only one to help him. I did my best in qualifying and today in the race I knew I had to be extremely focused. I stormed out and once behind him I saw that Enea and Alex were marching for him and I said, “No, no, this time no one passes from here‘. I protected everything I could. Never in my life had I braked so late into turn 1. It was impressive, the whole race with a huge level of tension. Very happy, even if it’s only 0.1%, to have helped my best friend become world champion“.
The departure was decisive for Aleix Espargaró: “At the start, I protected myself as much as I could, I’ve never braked this late in 1st gear. and throughout the race I had strong tension. “I am very happy to help my best friend win the world championship.” Regarding the celebration, he admitted that it was very moving: “When I crossed the finish line, it was a mix of emotions because it was my last race and I maintained my concentration throughout. throughout the race. When he stood next to me I couldn’t stop crying and he told me ‘we made it, it’s yours too’ and I thank him so much for that. to have seen as world champion.”
When they asked him to put a note on his sporting careerAleix Espargaró: “Successful, for sure, but I wouldn’t give it a very good rating. Don’t have any illusions, my sporting performances haven’t been very good, but it’s true that I think I’m going to serve as a mirror or an example to younger people that everything is not a question of talent. : work, discipline, self-confidence. . I think it’s very, very important. You have to give credit, but I’m super proud. Throughout my sporting career, I fought with drivers stronger than me and I was able to beat them.
Aprilia, the final touch
The 41 had a career full of ups and downs and put the finishing touches on Aprilia: “It was brutal. I worked hard for this sport and got exhausted. The last 8 years at Aprilia have been incredible. My happiness lies in making the people I love happy and the aura I left behind is something very important. One of the most important people in the company, which is electronic, wrote me a letter in which he said: “All victories are very good, but we won these victories in the first years, when no one believed or trusted Aprilia, and I encouraged them and made them smile. “It stuck with me.”
The last lap was very special for Espargaró: “I was so focused to follow the Ducati, who have a very high level, I have never braked this late, at turn 1 I hit the front fork and I couldn’t think much. When I crossed the finish line, I broke down because I had said goodbye to my national circuit.
When asked about a headline about his career, Aleix Espargaró said: “‘Resilience‘. Believe in yourself, never throw in the towel, it’s very important. It’s a cliché, but it’s real and I’m convinced that I’ve shown that work trumps talent, I have no doubt about it.
