Aleix Espargaró Gives An Outlook On The Upcoming MotoGP Season
Categories: MotoGP
Aleix Espargaró is one of the title candidates for the coming season. The Spaniard gives an outlook on 2023.
After his fantastic last season, Aleix Espargaró is one of the candidates for the MotoGP title in 2023.
With Aprilia, which suddenly strengthened last year, the Spaniard wants to fight for the top of the premier class again and has a clear target.
“The goal is the title, but I’m not under pressure.” He is sure that despite his already high MotoGP experience he has learned even more in the last year.
“I know I have the weapons for it and the experience that I didn’t have at the beginning of last year.”
“I matured as a rider, so I feel relatively calm. In the last two years, I’m not the only one who has learned a lot. Everybody at Aprilia has.”
A competitive bike is everything
At the pre-season test in Sepang, the Aprilia seemed to be on a good level again. The Spaniard knows that at the moment almost everything is about the bike.
He is sure that even an eight-time world champion like Marc Márquez cannot compete for the title without a good bike.
“I think Marc [Márquez] is the most talented rider I have ever raced. However, now, if Honda doesn’t give him a good bike, it’ll be difficult to fight for the top, even for him.”
Espargaró is all the more pleased with Aprilia’s performance. The Italians from Noale seem to be the only ones who could come close to the superior Ducatis.
“Aprilia and Ducati are doing an incredible job. There are a lot of Ducatis and they have no rookies anymore, so there are a dozen riders who could win the championship.”
Sprint Races: The big unknown
For Espargaró, the newly introduced sprint races are the big unknown. To be in contention for the title in 2023, a lot will come down to consistency over the now 42 races.
“We are trying to prepare as best as we can, but we’ll only know in Portimao what will happen.”
“When we riders said we weren’t convinced with the sprint races, it wasn’t because we didn’t like racing, but because 42 race starts are dangerous.”
“I would have liked to have tried it first with five sprint races. However, we are not the ones organising the championship, so we have to follow the rules.”
