Aleix Espargaro says goodbye to the company at the end of the year and Enea Bastianini or Marco Bezzecchi could be the replacements. Yesterday, in Spain, “El capitan”, who helped bring Aprilia to the top of the MotoGP, tearfully removed his reservations about his future. He greets a great professional who, with determination and discipline, managed to reach the top step of the podium and compete with the most talented champions.
Now we will have to wait a couple of weeks to find out Ducati’s plans, but the free seat at Aprilia could entice the two from Romagna given that they let the current world championship leader slip away in Borgo Panigale. The Bolognese leaders did not like Jorge’s ultimatum, but it is a fact that he is the best in the Sprint race and that the two current official drivers are among the worst. The gap between the three in the standings was created precisely by Saturday’s match. Without the Race, Martin would have 79 points, against 77 for Bagnaia and 71 for Bastianini. In Saturday’s races, Martin collected 50 points, three victories and two third places, while Enea 18 and Pecco 14, without seeing the podium.
The second best in the Sprint is Marc Marquez, with 36 points and three second places, while in the Sunday race he only has 53 points, but in the last two races he brought home 40, with two second places and pays two zeros. In short, both Enea and Pecco are “lame” on Saturdays.
Dorna organized a “spicy” press conference, with 4 riders present: Bagnaia, Bastianini, Martin and Marc Marquez. «I will decide my future, I’m not just waiting for Ducati’s response – Martin thundered – but I have many manufacturers who have looked for me and I’m happy about this». Marc reiterated: «I have a very clear idea of what I need and what I have to do next year».
Then Enea Bastianini opened up to Aprilia: «Ducati has to make a difficult decision because we are all at the top. I feel good, I’ve improved a lot. I would like to be a Factory rider in 2025 too but I know the level of Jorge and Marc. The alternative? Aprilia has made great progress and could be a good choice: we’ll see.”
Barcelona is that track that last year saw the accident at the first corner caused by an error by Bastianini, then with Bagnaia’s terrible crash with the group avoiding it. After the mistakes in France, Bezzecchi is expected to redeem himself. «We have two challenging weeks ahead of us – explained Marco also speaking about Mugello – but on two very beautiful tracks. The final stretch of Barcelona is a unique sequence of curves.”
Tomorrow at 3pm the Sprint race, Sunday the races: at 11am Moto3, at 12.15pm Moto2 and at 2pm MotoGP.
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