The Catalunya Grand Prix for Aleix Espargaró looks like a fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm. Only two days ago the Aprilia Racing rider announced his retirement from MotoGP at the end of the year, but on the Catalan Saturday the driver from Granollers took both the pole position and the victory in the Sprint.
An unexpected victory
Despite Aleix Espargaró has always been the man to beat at Montmeló in the last three years, things were certainly not going well for the Catalan in today’s Sprint. Despite the pole position achieved just a few hours earlier, “el Capitán” he had the usual problem with the clutch of his RS-GP, the Achilles heel of the Noale bike. The start certainly wasn’t the best for Espargaró, so he placed himself around 5th position in the early stages of the race. In the early stages of the race Espargaró even dropped to 6th place, being overtaken by his friend Jorge Martín.
The Aprilia rider moved up in the rankings by taking advantage of the mistakes of others: first Raúl Fernández, then Brad Binder ended their race in the gravel while they were in the lead. In the meantime, Espargaró was very good at overtaking a charging Pedro Acosta in turn 1 with millimeter braking for 2nd position. It is the “curse of the leader” that has struck, once again, Francesco Bagnaia. The two-time world champion was knocked out in turn 5 (the same as Binder, ed) on the last lap of the race. Thus, in his fairy-tale world just a few kilometers from home, Aleix Espargaró resisted in the final corners, thus returning to success after the double achieved at Montmeló last September.
A race won with the head
As fairytale as this weekend is for Aleix Espargaró, the driver is sure: “Today was a race to win with the head, not with the heart.” We have seen how the Catalunya track is particularly abrasive both with Pirelli in WorldSBK and with Michelin in MotoGP. The #41 was good at managing his covers as best as possible, moving up in the final stages of the race.
I already said on Thursday that there are a couple of tracks where there must be tire management: Montmeló is one of them. I understood straight away that my rivals would destroy their tires and that I would therefore come back in the final laps. I was the only one to have lapped under 1’39″5 in the tests: I knew, therefore, that the others were beyond the limit. I overtook Martín and Acosta, then they all fell in front of me: sometimes, being a Experienced pilot helps.
A one-of-a-kind weekend
The Espargaró brothers have always paid particular attention to the Catalunya Grand Prix. This is even more special for the Aprilia Racing rider, as it will be his last home GP as a MotoGP rider. “El capitán” then tried to explain his state of mind in front of the journalists.
It’s a fairy tale: it’s impossible to do better. In short, the pole position, winning the Sprint with all the fans cheering me on in my last home Grand Prix: I couldn’t imagine something better. When I drive at the limit I don’t think about anything, but after the last corner I realized where I was and that I had just won the race. I have no more pressure now: I will try to have fun until the last lap of the Valencia race. I try to enjoy every moment: usually, I hate being on the grid, but today I enjoyed myself because I realized that I will never be in pole position in my home GP again.
Valentino Aggio
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