Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) after his best result of the season at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portugal – the “fitness guru” who grew up in the immediate vicinity of the Circuito de Cataluña can confidently travel to Andalusia (© Aprilia Racing Team Gresini).

Almost unnoticed by the Marquez hype – Aprilia hero Aleix Espargaró

Anyone who calmly looks at how a team, in contrast to all others, competes in MotoGP with an absolute savings budget, can only be amazed at the current results of Aprlilia. This is primarily due to a single rider who has completely overshadowed the entire Honda and KTM squad since the beginning of the season in Losail. With Aleix Espargaró, the team, which operates with modest means in the premier class, has a real jewel. Often Overturned enough and paying a high price due to his aggressiveness, the older brother of Repsol Honda newcomer Pol is the absolute sensation of the first 3 championship rounds. But hardly anyone takes notice from it, it is an absolute shame from a sporting point of view and an embarrassment for countless reporters on top of that.

Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini)) – of the Catalans before the start in Losail. Mostly left behind completely by fans and media, although actually the sensation of the first 3 World Championship rounds.

The “shadow man” compared to the sensational returnees and others
After the race, as so often, there were many explanations from team bosses and drivers for their sometimes desperate performance. At KTM, for example, according to sports director Beirer, the tires should have been the problem, but Brad Binder in 5th place probably had exactly the same rubber available as all the other drivers have. As so often, Maverick Viñales complained about the tires, but apparently he had already made the wrong choice with hard compounds before the start. Apart from that, his team-mate Quartararo won absolutely dominant. With Marc Marquez it should have been the arm, to name just one more example, why he “only” came in seventh. According to his brother Alex of all people, however, he drove faster and faster towards the end of the race. That sounds strange, considering Marc’s statement before the start that he had concerns about holding out. And Aleix Espargaró? He is in 6th place in the World Championship, but is still anything but completely satisfied. We hear and read for ourselves what he had to say to us after the race.

Marc Marquez and his “problem arm” attracted countless cameras from the start, here is an inglorious example, whereby we only have the left side in the picture, seen from the inside. From a purely objective point of view, the result on the track was clearly worse in the race than that of his replacement Stefan Bradl. At the finish he was only a good 5 seconds short of fourth place, and he finished seventh without falling in front of him. Marc achieved the same position in Portugal as his substitute last year, but with a good 8 seconds behind P4, and he also benefited from three falls in front of him. He had been declared fit for the race, so he has to face sober considerations of his performance.

Aleix Espargaró after the Grand Prix of Portugal: “After the warm-up, where I started on a used tire and felt very good, I might have expected a little more from this race. But we mustn’t forget the path that has brought us so far and made me fight in the top group. Three races in a row, with speed and no mistakes. To be even more concise, I lacked a little grip at the rear. The asphalt was 20 degrees hotter than this morning. Perhaps the choice of the hard tire was not ideal, it is often a game of chance.” (the editors: For Maverick Viñales the reason for his result outside the top ten). “Without ever thoroughly testing it over the weekend, we didn’t feel safe enough and under all circumstances we still show our worth. I have more fun in the saddle than ever before. I’m thrilled and can’t wait to be back on track soon. In Jerez we will see what satisfaction we can take home next.”

The start of the Portuguese Grand Prix on April 18, 2021 – in the center of the picture with the number 41 the “underdog” Aleix Espargaró, (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini)) who was only barely in the top ten after the first lap. But then he turned it up tremendously and while some opponents fell, he not only stayed seated, but also took the sensationally strong 6th place.

The world is unjust – the saying goes perfectly with the lack of appreciation

Before the reader thinks we are exaggerating, please take a look at the official MotoGP portal of the Dorna for the photos of the Portuguese GP. 6 photos of Valentino Rossi’s fall are available (possibly only with a subscription, which of course we also have many direct contacts). On an estimated every second one sees Marquez as seventh classified. When his replacement Bradl got the same ranking in 2020, there were a maximum of 2 to 3 photos. But what is really scandalous is that not a single photo shows the sixth place in the World Cup. That borders on bullying, gentlemen from the Dorna! Added to this is our assessment of the minute’s silence for Fausto Gresini, in itself an undisputed noble gesture. We can be wrong with our assessment, but: Probably the former GP winner would have been at least as important as paying homage to the achievements in the sense of an absolutely deserved appreciation of the achievements of the Aprilia Gresini team with Aleix.

Fausto Gresini, who tragically died from the coronavirus last winter, with his then figurehead Marco Simoncelli before the start – after Daijirō Katō he also lost the young man with the wild hairstyle in a fatal accident. At the loss of the humble Northern Italian, we console ourselves with the fact that he would be incredibly proud of Aleix at the moment.

Current World Championship stand with Aleix in 6th place
The Sonnyboy from Granollers is currently in 6th place in the World Championship, which means that our secret route to the Circuito de Cataluña on the Grand Prix weekend often leads by bike. At Red Bull Media and some other portals, he was only mentioned 2 days after the race from Portugal first ever mentioned Aleix. Partly only because of his complaint about the handling of the flags, which he addressed again after the race and 6th place. Before that, there were an estimated 6 or more articles about Marc Marquez, who after a few laps only saw the rear wheel of his Aprilia. The Spaniard does an incredible job and is ahead of all the Honda and KTM drivers in the interim ranking of the World Championship, as well as World Championship co-favorite Alex Rins and two Yamahas.

This is followed by the team and manufacturer classification with only one absolute world-class driver for Gresini Aprilia, a position that the team and the company from Noale rightly fulfill with pride.

The next round on the Circuito de Jerez

In the first of two races, Aleix Espargaró also crashed shortly after Joan Mir last year. In the second Grand Prix in Andalusia he was the third crash pilot after Oliveira, whom his fellow brand Binder had brought down and whose KTM colleague Lecuona. A little later, Miller, Petrux and Binder followed suit. He was therefore in company both times when he fell, to put it fatalistically. But this time Aprilia recently had a longer test in Jerez de la Frontera with an interesting man, formerly called “Desmo-Dovi”. And as the results of the first 3 races showed, the Aprilia RS-GP is apparently going better than ever before. The only drawback is the top speed, which fortunately shouldn’t be a problem for Aleix on the Circuito de Jerez due to the lack of long straights. The remaining classifications of Aleix on this track in the earlier laps in MotoGP were not that bad, as the following list shows:
2019 (Aprilia) – eleventh
2018 (Aprilia) – dnf
2017 (Aprilia) – P9
2016 (Suzuki) – P5
2015 (Suzuki) – P7
2014 (Forward Yamaha) – P7
2013 (ART) – P9
2012 (ART) – P12

Taken during our visit to the Circuito de Jerez 2019 on qualifying Saturday – the view between turns 7 and 8 of the rear of the pit area. According to the weather forecast, there is currently a probability of around 90 percent rainy on Friday, but the two days after that are much better. With a little luck this will change by then.

The schedule for World Cup round 4 on the Circuito de Jerez

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© MotoGP).