        As the Malaysian GP gets underway this weekend, Aleix Espargar&oacute; prepares to compete in his 300th MotoGP race. An incredibly high number that tells of a long career, one in which he has been wearing Aprilia colours since 2017. And now, for the first time in his life, the Spaniard is fighting for the title in the top class. As for this latest milestone, Aleix had this to say in the pre-race press conference: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy and also proud. Even reaching MotoGP is the dream of every kid who rides. But to have such a long career is even better. To have 300 races on my CV is incredible. I saw the list the other day and couldn&rsquo;t believe it.&rdquo; &nbsp;The championship challenge This weekend has a particular flavour for Aleix, as he continues to fight for the title despite a 27-point deficit. Francesco Bagnaia is the rider to beat, considering he has a first match point in Malaysia, and Aleix has set a clear goal: &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll try to stop Pecco, which won&rsquo;t be easy considering what he&rsquo;s done in recent races and throughout the second half of the season. It&rsquo;s almost impossible, his performance has been incredible&rdquo;. But one thing lies in the Spaniard&rsquo;s favour: &ldquo;I can risk a little more, I can be more aggressive in these last two races and perhaps do better at Valencia&rdquo;. First, he wants to set out on the right foot at Sepang: &ldquo;Aprilia can be competitive at this track&rdquo;. A track at which he completed a positive test at the start of the year: &ldquo;We were strong and consistent in terms of pace, but we&rsquo;re not the only ones who&rsquo;ve improved between February and now&rdquo;.&nbsp; Lessons learned for 2023 He hasn&rsquo;t been able to stick with the frontrunners in recent races: &ldquo;At the races where we had no data, we lost time in making changes and things. We made too many mistakes and were a little too slow to adapt to new tracks&rdquo;. But we learn from our mistakes of course: &ldquo;This is a good lesson for us for the future. We&rsquo;re lost many points but if we can learn and change our way of working while also collating data, I think we can be strong next season&rdquo;. Generally though, he can be more than satisfied with the 2022 season: &ldquo;The improvements Aprilia has made are incredible and I&rsquo;m very proud of what&rsquo;s been done. But if I think about the title, we can&rsquo;t reach Pecco&rsquo;s level.&rdquo; Traslated by Heather Watson       

The Aprilia rider is still mathematically in with a shot at the riders&rsquo; title, but admits: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not at Pecco&rsquo;s level. I can be more aggressive now&rdquo;

Malaysia MotoGP, Aleix Espargaró: “Stop Bagnaia? Almost impossible"

        Aleix Espargar&oacute; hadn&rsquo;t been on the podium since the Italian GP, but was back with a vengeance at Arag&oacute;n, after yet another very positive performance resulted in his sixth podium of the season. An impressive figure for the Aprilia rider who, with five races to go, is very much in the mix for the title, lying just 17 points from current leader Fabio Quartararo. The MotoGP title a possible dream The fairy tale continues for the 33-year old and the Noale manufacturer, during a season in which they immediate stood out and have proved to be up there with the best. The RS-GP has finally taken the step it required, while Aleix has been in excellent physical and mental shape, both of which have meant that results were quick to arrive. First a fourth place in Qatar, and a first MotoGP win two races later in Argentina, a first for both the Spaniard and for Noale, but this was just the start of something significant. Now that we&rsquo;re entering the final stages of the championship, the pairing is solidified. Aleix makes very few mistakes and brings home the best possible result each time, sticking very close to Quartararo and Bagnaia ahead of him. &nbsp;High-performance Italian bikes We should also talk about the high technical level of the RS-GP. It&rsquo;s true that Ducati has won the constructors&rsquo; title, at Arag&oacute;n in fact, but the Noale manufacturer has a lot less experience and is right behind the red bikes, having enjoyed significant growth. It&rsquo;s clear for all to see that, today, Aprilia contributes to the Italian dominance in MotoGP, alongside Ducati of course. In four of the last five races, the three bikes on the podium were all Italian, and this doesn't happen by chance. In fact, it says a lot about the high quality that the Bel Paese brings to the track. Traslated by Heather Watson       

Three Italian bikes once again took to the podium at Arag&oacute;n, one of which the RS-GP of the Spaniard who continues to fight for the title

MotoGP 2022, Aleix Espargaró: a dream season with Aprilia

A test to forget for Aleix Espargar&oacute;. During the morning of day two, the Spaniard crashed at turn 14, fracturing the little finger on his left hand.  &ldquo;If I had a qualifying tyre, I&rsquo;d go out in an hour&rdquo;, commented Aleix, &ldquo;but considering it hurts, we&rsquo;ve decided to finish ahead of time. The circuit doctors have told me I don&rsquo;t need surgery. I&rsquo;ll check with Doctor Mir but it doesn&rsquo;t look to be serious, though my little finger looked like a snake after the crash (he laughs)&quot;.  Aleix: &quot;We&rsquo;ve tried some new things, but we need to keep calm&quot;   How have the two days gone? Crash aside.  &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say it&rsquo;s gone well overall. We&rsquo;ve tested some things for the 2023 bike. We need to calmly work out what works and what doesn&rsquo;t, bearing in mind that everyone is quicker in testing, thanks also to better grip. In the afternoon, I had a few things to test, but without making many laps &ndash; it&rsquo;s over to Vi&ntilde;ales now&rdquo;.  Many expect to see you bounce back at Arag&oacute;n. What do you think?  &ldquo;A new championship starts for me as of Arag&oacute;n, in that we&rsquo;ll be back at a friendly track after two difficult ones. And then we&rsquo;ll head out of Europe, where anything could happen as we haven&rsquo;t done it for three years&rdquo;.  Translated by Heather Watson  Gardner wants SBK: Ducati or Yamaha for Remy? 

An unlucky day for the Spaniard: &quot;It hurts right now, but doesn&rsquo;t require surgery. A new championship begins at Arag&oacute;n&quot;

Test MotoGP, fractured little finger for Aleix: &ldquo;But I&rsquo;d ride again in an hour&rdquo;

        Just ahead of the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini GP, the MotoGP title contenders have taken part in the traditional press conference. These riders include&nbsp;Aleix Espargar&ograve;, who is keen to get back on top after an Austrian round that proved more complicated than expected. Aleix: &ldquo;Misano suits my style. Team RNF? Important for Aprilia&rdquo;  &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t wait to get out on track here at Misano and put Austria behind me. The Red Bull Ring has never been a good track for me and, despite giving it my all, I couldn&rsquo;t do more than sixth&rdquo;, admits the Spaniard. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re fighting for the championship, that kind of result is not enough. Misano suits my style and I&rsquo;m sure I can be back on the podium fighting with Fabio and Pecco&rdquo;. One of the most important announcements in recent days regards Aprilia, which has now announced the arrival of Fernandez and Oliveira in 2023 with the colours of team RNF: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good news for me and Maverick, as having two such strong and talented guys on the satellite team will also help us with development. Raul and Miguel are two real talents and will definitely get on well with the RS-GP, with which they&rsquo;ll be able to score some good results&rdquo;. &ldquo;Dovizioso has been source of inspiration to me&rdquo;  Misano will also be the last GP for Andrea Dovizioso, a rider who has been a point of reference for Aleix: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry that Dovi is retiring, because he&rsquo;s been one of the strongest riders in recent years and one of very few who could beat Marquez. He&rsquo;s been a source of inspiration to me, because the journey I&rsquo;m on with Aprilia is not unlike what he was doing with Ducati until a couple of years ago.&rdquo; Marc Marquez&rsquo;s imminent return also came up in conversation: &ldquo;Over the next few days there&rsquo;ll be some testing at Misano. We&rsquo;ll have a lot of parts to try, but it will be interesting to see if Marc is on track too. He&rsquo;ll definitely be back soon and, once he returns, he&rsquo;ll be another rival for us all to beat&rdquo;. Translated by Heather Watson Torres: &ldquo;We need to set an example: Aegerter should have had his licence suspended&rdquo;       

The Aprilia rider is ready for the San Marino round: &ldquo;Oliveira and Fernandez will get on well with the RS-GP. This track suits my style, I&rsquo;ll do better than I did in Austria&rdquo;

MotoGP, Aleix Espargaró: “Dovizioso inspired by journey with Aprilia”

        Many people think that riders do very little to improve once they&rsquo;re off their bikes, or that they don&rsquo;t really need any type of training or parallel activity in order to race. On the contrary, they are athletes, more so than many others. The rider must prepare his/her body by following a training plan outside the paddock and eating a healthy diet. The diet of champions  Every meal is characterised by a specific food that is good for the individual rider. And the results can be seen on track. When the bike travels at those speeds, it moves and twitches, which means the rider is forced to follow suit and correct any erroneous movement. This can only be done if they are physically prepared, paying attention to the smallest details. Having a good diet ensures that a person&rsquo;s cardio-circulatory system is in perfect shape. Eating well also contributes to the overall rider/bike weight. Even a small weight saving can increase performance, and speed too, reduce the effort that the braking system need make during braking and reduce tyre stress. Aleix Espargaro: &ldquo;Nutrition is really important&rdquo; Let&rsquo;s take the example of the Espargar&oacute; brothers, who talked about their healthy diet on motogp.com. For three years now, Pol has been following a largely vegetable-based diet that focuses on water storage, so all those foods that contain a good quantity of water. Breakfast is often an avocado, or toast. Lunch might be legumes and quinoa, even before climbing on the bike, because they contain a lot of energy. At dinner time, he chooses to eat carbs, including pasta. Aleix also eats very structured meals. For breakfast, it&rsquo;s fruit, mainly bananas. Lunch involves plain rice. And then dinner is chicken and vegetables with just a dash of oil. &ldquo;I think that nutrition is really important at our level, it&rsquo;s our fuel. And I see it, in that if I get this aspect wrong, I don&rsquo;t feel 100%.&rdquo; Traslated by Heather Watson MOTOGP, PEDROSA: &ldquo;LORENZO MOTIVATED ME. I LEARNED A LOT FROM STONER&rdquo;       

A rider&rsquo;s health contributes to whether or not they win come Sunday and diet is a fundamental aspect when it comes to being quick off the mark

What does a MotoGP rider's diet look like?

MotoGP is now on its summer break and will be back on track at Silverstone on 7 August. A championship that will presumably resume where it left off, with three main frontrunners who are the quickest almost every weekend - Fabio Quartararo, Pecco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargar&oacute;. The latter is undoubtedly the revelation of the season, aboard an Aprilia that is demonstrating impressive levels of competitiveness and consistency. In an interview for Spanish talk show &lsquo;La Resistencia&rsquo;, the Spaniard talks about how pleased he is and reveals that: &quot;After the races we always have a technical briefing and I thanked the guys at Assen for everything we&rsquo;re experiencing. For us, a top five in the championship is incredible, and we&rsquo;re also fighting for a world title. They&rsquo;re all doing an amazing job&quot;.&nbsp;  A. Espargar&oacute;: &quot;We&rsquo;re living a dream&quot;  The Spaniard then outlines the work the Noale manufacturer is doing, considering that the brand&rsquo;s racing success has mainly revolved around the small engines: &quot;Aprilia has many titles in the minor categories but they&rsquo;re relatively new in MotoGP. It&rsquo;s not that they hadn&rsquo;t won, up until last year they hadn&rsquo;t even seen a podium. Then this year we&rsquo;ve scored podiums, wins and pole positions. I&rsquo;m super happy, we&rsquo;re living a dream.&rdquo;  Espargar&oacute; touches on the error at Barcelona, when he believed he had finished the race one lap ahead of time, slowing and losing second place as a result, before ultimately finishing fifth: &quot;I thought the race was over and then when everyone started to pass me I realized I&rsquo;d done something stupid. I got confused, I was so focused that I didn&rsquo;t see the pit board. That was a tough one for me to put behind me, I went through a difficult patch. Nothing can comfort me more than coming back to the garage to see my kids there waiting for me but, on that occasion, I couldn&rsquo;t stop crying, I thought what a ridiculous way to end your home race.&rdquo;  &nbsp;&quot;The Barcelona mistake? One of the worst moments of my life&rdquo;  His mind surely went to the championship and the title fight... will he pay dearly for those nine lost points? &quot;The only thing I can think about is what if I were to lose the championship at Valencia by nine points&hellip; Just imagine&hellip; That was one of the worst moments of my life and my sporting career&rdquo;. One last interesting fact about the Spaniard&rsquo;s salary, now that he&rsquo;s a top rider: &quot;I&rsquo;ll be honest. I swear on my kids&rsquo; life that my wife does all that and I can&rsquo;t even tell you how much I have in the bank. With Aprilia, the factory riders earn around 2-3 million Euro, more or less.&rdquo;  Traslated by Heather Watson  PEDROSA: &ldquo;A BATTLE AGAINST LORENZO AND ROSSI IN THE CAR? IT WOULD BE GREAT, BUT...&quot; 

The Spaniard talks about the error he made in the final stages of the Montmel&oacute; race, but is also aware of the fantastic season he&rsquo;s having

MotoGP, Aleix Espargar&oacute;: &quot;If I were to lose the title due to the Barcelona mistake...&quot;

        In the exact place where he suffered the lowest point of his career just twelve months prior, Maverick Vi&ntilde;ales experienced a rebirth, putting his problems behind him and embarking on a new chapter in MotoGP. In reaching the podium at Van Drenthe, the 27-year old Spaniard had a breakthrough, becoming (almost) one with his Aprilia. And that &lsquo;almost&rsquo; should worry his rivals, as the number 12 rider can grow further. And he will. Twelve months, a life that changes  It was late June 2021 and Maverick was wearing Yamaha colours. And they were tight on him, let&rsquo;s be honest. He did well to finish second on the podium at the end of a race won by Fabio Quartararo &ndash; his then team-mate no less &ndash; but something had been wrong for a while. Something big&hellip; Between the Sachsenring disaster and the &lsquo;DNF&rsquo; at the Red Bull Ring, his contract was rescinded with the subsequent legal and financial consequences. This didn&rsquo;t go down well with Yamaha bosses, as the contract was set to run until 2022. And that&rsquo;s why the Spaniard didn&rsquo;t race in Austria. The move to black  Maverick was black, or no, even worse&hellip; Maverick was grey, a colour that we can bet very few people like. Definitely not an &lsquo;all or nothing&rsquo; type like Vi&ntilde;ales, who found himself at a significant crossroads &ndash; should he stop racing altogether, or start over elsewhere, perhaps in a place where (mutual) trust could be felt in the garage? And so it was that he took part in a life-changing test, aboard the RS-GP bike at Misano. And the Spaniard clearly got on well with the Italian four-cylinder, as he immediately found himself competing in a race. As of Arag&oacute;n last year, a new MotoGP adventure began for &lsquo;Vinny&rsquo;, who continues to ride for the Noale factory team today. He was a rose ready to bloom. The Assen podium - new lifeblood for Mav  The third step of the rostrum is already impressive, if we&rsquo;re talking MotoGP. Let alone if it comes after a twelve month fast. And Mav did just this, rounding out the podium at Van Drenthe. In a race won by Pecco Bagnaia, and in which Marco Bezzecchi proved himself on the world stage, the Catalan rider found himself again. But he was never really lost. It was more a matter of environment. Without judging whether one team is better than another, as that&rsquo;s not up to us, Vi&ntilde;ales found what he was looking for with the Noale-based squad, or rather understanding, trust and respect. And the right bike. Aleix has Vinny, the others don&rsquo;t  Like when we were kids, playing with our models: I have this one, you don&rsquo;t. Exactly what Aprilia might say now, with Vi&ntilde;ales in its ranks. The black squad now knows that it can count on a &lsquo;second&rsquo; rider who is as quick as the first. Because Maverick will do it again, doing better than he did at Assen. You&rsquo;ll see. And who will benefit? He will of course, as much as Aleix Espargar&oacute;. The latter has a team-mate who is ready to offer a supportive shoulder. Who else can say the same? Quarta at Yamaha? No. Pecco in Ducati? Not always. Suzuki, KTM and Honda? Forget about it. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Aleix Espargar&oacute; from ugly duckling to frontrunner       

In reaching the podium at Assen, Maverick has had a breakthrough. It is he who will tip the balance in the fight for the title, Aprilia can benefit from him

Viñales, Aleix Espargaró’s extra weapon in the fight for the MotoGP title

        Five years ago, if someone has said that Aleix Espargar&oacute; would be consistently fighting for the title in 2022, how many of us would have believed it? Not many. And yet the Spaniard is doing exactly what he always dreamed of, battling for the top positions and, as he himself admits, he achieved his goal in the final race before the summer break - to reduce the gap to leader Quartararo. Tough years, spent further down the field  The eldest Espargar&oacute; was, for several years, an 'also ran&rsquo;, one of those competing in MotoGP but often placing in the bottom half of the standings. From 2010, his first full year in the top class, to 2020, his best result was a second-place finish in 2014 when he was riding an Open bike for the Forward team, after which he dropped back down the field again with Suzuki (2015-2016). Aprilia and Aleix Espargar&oacute;, dreaming big together  There was talent though, and Aprilia was able to spot this, signing him up for their new project. It took time and there were challenges before they began to find their way, but Espargar&oacute; has given it his all since 2017 and now, in their sixth season together, they&rsquo;re reaping exactly what both parties always dreamed of. The Dutch GP further proved the solidity of the pairing, the Spaniard immediately penalised by the mistake made by Fabio Quartararo but quick to make a spectacular recovery, climbing all the way back up the field from fifteenth to fourth. Will the dream become reality?  After recent debate concerning a supposed lack of overtaking in MotoGP, Aleix made up for it all in just one race, one that he could have won had he not been conditioned at the start (in his opinion). Considering the hard work he&rsquo;s done to get here, it is only right that we talk about this latest feat by Espargar&oacute;. And what about that double pass at the final corner, precise and perfect? This is his moment, the moment for him and for Aprilia, which also shines with Maverick Vi&ntilde;ales. They must continue to dream big, with the same commitment as ever, if they want to achieve the ultimate goal. Fabio Quartararo permitting. Translated by Heather Watson GP Assen, Valentino Rossi: &ldquo;Bagnaia and Bezzecchi, we&rsquo;re on top of the world&rdquo;       

In his twelfth season in the reigning class, the Spaniard is finally battling for the title with his Aprilia, after years of relative anonymity

MotoGP, Aleix Espargaró from ugly duckling to frontrunner

        The error made by Aleix Espargar&oacute; at Barcelona, which saw the Spaniard celebrate one lap before the end of the Catalunya GP, has become one of the most talked about moments of the weekend, a significant blunder that prevented Aprilia from celebrating its fifth consecutive podium. It is not the first mistake of this kind to be made in a race, and neither will it be the last. Other riders have slipped up in a similar way, Pierfrancesco Chili and Julian Simon&nbsp;to name but two. Support from Simon  And Simon, who threw away almost certain victory by doing the same thing at Barcelona in 2009, has been quick to reach out and offer support to the Noale rider: &ldquo;First, I&rsquo;d like to give Aleix a hug, because he must be really angry. He&rsquo;d scored a podium, second after a great race and during a season in which he&rsquo;s proving to be a great rider. He&rsquo;s taking Aprilia to the top&rdquo;, comments the 2009 125 world champion to our colleagues at AS. Like Espargar&oacute;, Simon was also misled by indications on the tower located at the end of pitlane: &ldquo;I was so focused that when I crossed the line, I didn&rsquo;t realise I&rsquo;d got the numbers wrong, and that the chequered flag hadn&rsquo;t come out. I think the same thing happened to him&rdquo;, continues the current Yamaha factory team coach, &ldquo;Concentration takes you to such an extreme level that you stop noticing the chequered flag, which is what actually tells you the race is over&rdquo;. Julian: "Aleix must look ahead"  A mistake that, in Simon&rsquo;s opinion, shouldn&rsquo;t cancel out all the good Aleix is doing this season: &ldquo;That feeling of having made a mistake is like a big hole and the following night is not easy. Now Aleix needs to analyse the situation and think about how he was riding, as he was second. He needs to have this strength and move forward, because we&rsquo;re all human and can all make mistakes.&rdquo; Aleix&rsquo;s miscalculation cost him nine points, and he was forced to settle for fifth place, a result that could prove costly in terms of the championship. The same can&rsquo;t be said for Julian who won the championship at the end of the 2009 season despite his mistake: &ldquo;Without diminishing my title, MotoGP is MotoGP. These nine points could put him in a more delicate position", concludes Simon. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Aprilia queen of testing: the new components seen at Barcelona       

The former rider, who made a similar mistake at Barcelona in 2009, comments on the Aprilia rider&rsquo;s oversight: "The tower misled me too"

MotoGP, Julian Simon consoles Espargaró: “Aleix? I’d like to hug him”

The news was already in the air and so comes as no surprise as it is confirmed - the Aprilia Racing team and Aleix Espargar&oacute; will continue to collaborate throughout the 2023 and 2024 MotoGP seasons.  In addition to the number 41 Catalan rider, another Catalonian in the shape of Maverick Vi&ntilde;ales will also remain aboard the RS-GP, having come to the team in the summer of 2021. The former Moto3 champ has also secured a two-year contract, just like Espargar&oacute;. The Noale squad thus sticks with what it knows.  Aprilia in MotoGP: stability means performance   Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola explains it well: &quot;Stability means performance&quot;. Basically, when the family is united, it takes continuous steps forward. And Technical Director Romano Albesiano is in agreement: &quot;We&rsquo;ll be able to guarantee development along well-defined paths, that will undoubtedly result in growth&quot;.  And what do the two riders think? They&rsquo;re very happy of course: &quot;I&rsquo;m pleased as I&rsquo;ve finally got what I wanted and dreamed of&quot;, comments Aleix. &quot;I&rsquo;m happy for me and for Aprilia, I want to prove that I deserve the trust that has been put in me once more after so many years together.&quot;  And Maverick? &quot;I am comfortable here, it&rsquo;s like a family&rdquo;, he says, &ldquo;Everyone&rsquo;s so kind and confirming our collaboration will give my career a real boost. The goal? Podiums and race wins, we&rsquo;ll work hard to get there soon&quot;.  Translated by Heather Watson  MotoGP, Marc Marquez admits: &ldquo;I admire Valentino Rossi&rdquo; 

The Noale manufacturer will again put their trust in Catalonian duo Aleix and Maverick in 2023 and 2024: &quot;Continuity equals performance&quot;

Italian GP, Aprilia renews with Espargar&oacute; and Vi&ntilde;ales for another two years

The French GP, which played out this weekend at Le Mans, once again smiled down on the Aprilia and Aleix Espargar&oacute;. The Spaniard powered the RS-GP to the podium in fact, after an impeccable race in which he was able to fend off attacks from the current world champion and local hero Fabio Quartararo.    &nbsp;  &ldquo;Aleix did very well and ran a clean race, despite battling with the rider who had all the local support&rdquo;, commented Massimo Rivola at the end of the weekend. &ldquo;His renewal is a priority and we have no tactics though despite the uncertainty, Espargar&oacute; is still very fast, so maybe we&rsquo;ll keep him in suspense until Christmas. Joking aside, his contract renewal won&rsquo;t be long in coming.&rdquo;  Rivola: &ldquo;Aleix and the Aprilia have grown together&rdquo;   &ldquo;Aleix&rsquo;s pathway has run parallel to the development of the Aprilia, of which he has been an integral part&rdquo;, continues Massimo. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always been a fast rider, but never had the right bike with which to demonstrate that. Now that he does, he&rsquo;s fully demonstrating his skills and making us very happy in the process.&rdquo;  The one sore point of the weekend was, once again, Vi&ntilde;ales&rsquo; race start: &ldquo;Maverick is fast too, but he wasn&rsquo;t able to make a good start and found himself at the back of the group at the end of lap one and then had to catch up. If he were able to make better starts, we&rsquo;d have two riders capable of fighting at the front&rdquo;.  Translated by Heather Watson  MotoGP, regulation change: more engines for a 21-race season 

After another positive GP for Aprilia and Espargar&oacute; in France, Massimo clarifies the rider&rsquo;s future: &ldquo;The new contract won&rsquo;t be long in coming. Maverick is quick too, but he needs to get the starts right&rdquo;

MotoGP, Rivola: &ldquo;The delay with Aleix&rsquo;s renewal is not a strategy&rdquo;

        The first day of practice at Jerez didn&rsquo;t end as Aleix Espargar&oacute; hoped, but it is something else entirely that has annoyed him. During the day, the Spaniard crossed paths (against his will) with Marc Marquez, who was looking for a tow, something that doesn't sit well with Aleix. &ldquo;From the images, it&rsquo;s clear what happened. Marc has been doing the same thing for a year now, roaming the track waiting for other riders, and that&rsquo;s not normal. Today Pol came close to crashing - attacks Aleix &ndash; then Gardner, then Oliveira, then me. He waited for me for a minute, I saw him at the end of the straight when I was a kilometre away. Why does he do it? I don&rsquo;t understand but it&rsquo;s embarrassing, and he ruined my lap. The only explanation is that he&rsquo;s lacking confidence. In 2020 he was a second a lap faster than us, it was like he was racing against the Moto2 bikes. But now he needs an Aprilia to be able to make a fast lap on Friday? It really makes me angry&rdquo;. Let&rsquo;s talk about your day. How did it go? &ldquo;If you look at the timesheets, it wasn&rsquo;t a great day but that&rsquo;s not actually the case. Things went well both this morning and this afternoon, particularly with the race tyre, or the medium. Unfortunately, I had problems with the soft solution, so when making my time attack. First I came across traffic, then there was a little chattering at the rear, something that happened to me last year too&rdquo;. Espargar&oacute;: &ldquo;If I continue to do well, I&rsquo;ll have valid options for 2023"  So the problem is only the flying lap? &ldquo;Exactly, I set the same time with both the used medium and the new soft, while other riders lowered their times by half a second. Usually the best times come in FP3, so I&rsquo;m not worried&rdquo;. This is round six and Aprilia is always more or less up at the front. Can we say the bike is mature? &ldquo;We have a good base, so now we need to improve but without overdoing it. I get on well with this bike and am having fun, which is important&rdquo;. How willing are you to wait for a proposal from Aprilia? &ldquo;I&rsquo;m more relaxed than it might seem. I&rsquo;m experiencing the best moment of my career, and I&rsquo;m sure that if I continue to do well, I&rsquo;ll have valid options for the future. Let&rsquo;s say the longer we wait, the more things swing in my favour (he laughs)&rdquo;. Translated by Heather Watson Marquez guides development, Espargar&oacute; on the sidelines: the Honda situation       

Aleix vitriolic: "In 2020, it was like he was racing against Moto2 bikes, and now he needs an Aprilia to make a fast lap?"

Espargaró furious: “Marc has been roaming the track for a year waiting for others”

        A new track, but the same desire to surprise. Aleix Espargar&oacute; wants to be back at the sharp end with the Aprilia at Mandalika, and the first day of practice has brought encouraging results. Beyond his seventh-place finish, the gaps are very tight, with Aleix just two tenths from third place. Today&rsquo;s results are not the only talking point though, with riders also commenting on the new track conditions. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve done a great job with the asphalt&rdquo;, notes Aleix, &ldquo;but the carcasses brought by Michelin are very different to those we used in testing, and they cause the bike to slide a lot, but I&rsquo;m pleased with the work we&rsquo;ve done anyway, we&rsquo;re already competitive&rdquo;. How do you see the playing field? &ldquo;The two Yamahas up front used two soft tyres, which definitely gave them an advantage, but they&rsquo;re not far from Zarco anyway, which is good. I don&rsquo;t yet have the sensations I had in Qatar, particularly in terms of rear grip, but I&rsquo;m on the right path&rdquo;.&nbsp; Aleix Espargar&oacute;: "I want to make the most of this opportunity"  How is the work going at Aprilia? &ldquo;Romano (Albesiano) and I are working hard to grow further. I&rsquo;ve got this opportunity to fight for something important, though it&rsquo;s come a little later now that I&rsquo;m 32, but I want to make the most of it&rdquo;. On Instagram, you promised to throw your helmet to the crowd if you reach one million followers. Are you there yet? &ldquo;It was incredible, as I got to one million a few hours later. I recently saw some pictures of Biaggi doing the same thing right here in Indonesia, so I&rsquo;ll do a Biaggi (he laughs)&rdquo;. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Vi&ntilde;ales&rsquo; problems at Aprilia? Bonora explains at the Indonesian GP       

The Spaniard has no shortage of fans: "I&rsquo;ve reached one million followers on Instagram, so I&rsquo;ll keep my promise. I&rsquo;m already competitive"

MotoGP, Aleix Espargaró: “I want to do a Biaggi in Indonesia”

        Aprilia has revealed its 2022 bike and heads into the new season with an awareness of just how hard it has worked over the winter to try and close the gap to the other manufacturers. The Noale bike has already demonstrated its growth during the Sepang tests, appearing fast and competitive in the hands of both Espargar&oacute; and Vi&ntilde;ales. This will be Aleix&rsquo;s sixth season aboard the Italian bike and his goals are understandably ambitious, also considering his first podium last season and the improvements seen towards the end of the year. Aleix Espargar&oacute; is ready for the season: "I feel good both physically and mentally&rdquo;  Now in his sixth season with Aprilia, the Spaniard is more motivated than ever as he prepares for a year in which he could well play a leading role: "I can&rsquo;t wait to be back with the team, I&rsquo;ve been at Aprilia for six years already and the guys not just my mechanics, but my second family. I&rsquo;m not 20 anymore but I&rsquo;m as pumped up and hungry as an 18-year old. I&rsquo;m in good shape both physically and mentally and I can&rsquo;t wait to start the championship". After presenting the bike, Espargar&oacute; revealed his favourite tracks: "The home rounds are always the most emotional, both in Spain for me and in Italy for Aprilia. I also really like the Malaysian event, but we couldn&rsquo;t go last year due to Covid. Hopefully we&rsquo;ll be back there this season because I really love the place". His team-mate will be Maverick Vi&ntilde;ales, a rider with whom he has a great relationship: "I don&rsquo;t need to give Maverick any advice, he&rsquo;s a very fast rider and despite his young age, he&rsquo;s already very experienced. The only thing I would say is that he needs to believe in the Aprilia project, it&rsquo;s important we all move in the same direction&rdquo;. Lastly, Aleix considers the modern MotoGP bikes, which are increasingly technological: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t miss the bikes of the past, of course the two-strokes were amazing, but that was then. Today&rsquo;s MotoGP bikes are incredible in terms of how technological they are and it&rsquo;s great to part of all that." Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Savadori: &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t just be a test rider&rdquo;       

The Italian manufacturer unveils its new bike and the Spaniard prepares for his sixth season aboard the Aprilia, with &ldquo;the same hunger as an 18-year old rider&rdquo;

Aleix Espargaró: “I don’t look to the past, today’s MotoGP is incredible”

        One of the first riders to visit our booth at EICMA, Aleix Espargar&oacute; spoke to us about his positive 2021 MotoGP season with Aprilia. The Spaniard scored his first podium in the top class at Silverstone and finished the championship in eighth place overall, his best result to date since joining forces with the Italian manufacturer. Aleix wasn&rsquo;t fully satisfied with how the last races went though: &ldquo;To be honest, I hoped to be able to do more in the final races; we weren&rsquo;t as competitive as we would have liked. I&rsquo;m happy with how the season panned out overall anyway, my best season since becoming an Aprilia rider in fact. I know we can improve further.&rdquo;  Espargar&oacute;: &ldquo;The podium? An incredible feeling  The best moment of the season was undoubtedly scoring the&nbsp;podium at Silverstone: &ldquo;Reaching the MotoGP podium for the first time was an incredible feeling. I hoped it would come earlier, considering the great work we&rsquo;ve done, but that&rsquo;s OK, and achieving it after a great battle with Miller made it even better. It was an unforgettable Sunday, not only for me, but also and particularly for the guys who&rsquo;ve been working hard in Noale for many years&rdquo;. After the recent Jerez test, it&rsquo;s now time for a well-deserved rest: &ldquo;Testing went well, although I wasn&rsquo;t able to try the bike in its 2022 configuration unfortunately. But now I&rsquo;m going to take a holiday and recharge the batteries with my family before resuming my preparations for next year, when we&rsquo;ll be trying to improve further on our results, perhaps even aiming for our first win&rdquo;. Lastly, a word about his children, specifically Max: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big bike enthusiast, he watches all the races and is my number one fan, but for now he doesn&rsquo;t seem interested in riding, not even a minibike. And to be honest, that&rsquo;s fine by me&rdquo;. Translated by Heather Watson Moto2: Navarro sustains a fracture during the Jerez test       

The factory Aprilia MotoGP rider has spoken with us at EICMA about his strong season aboard the RS-GP: "The podium is the result of our hard work. It would be great to win a race in 2022&rdquo;

MotoGP, Aleix Espargaró: “The podium? I’d hoped it would come sooner”

        The Valencia weekend rounded out what has been a long 2021 season, one that has been largely positive for Aprilia (competing with team Gresini for the last time before it becomes a factory team next year). The manufacturer has often finished inside the top ten, demonstrating continuous growth and scoring a first podium. At the Ricardo Tormo track, Aleix Espargar&oacute; powered the RS-GP to a ninth-place finish after a solid race in which he only suffered a drop in performance in the final stages, while Maverick Vi&ntilde;ales, sixteenth, used the weekend to continue his learning with the Italian bike, ahead of a 2022 season in which he&rsquo;ll be aiming high. Aleix: "My best season with Aprilia"  Despite his ninth-place finish falling below expectations, Espargar&oacute; sees the glass half full: "At the beginning, when the tyre had grip, I felt good and made up quite a few positions. However, doing that took its toll on the tyres and they paid the price in the finale. The RS-GP gets harder to ride with low trip, so in the end I had to settle for a result which still gives me a good season finish. This is my best season with Aprilia. We finished ahead of riders who are extremely worthy adversaries and we know that we can do even better. This is our mindset as we prepare for 2022." Vi&ntilde;ales: "I&rsquo;m finding the right feeling"  Having only climbed aboard the Aprilia for the first time a few months ago, Maverick has used this final part of the championship to get to grips with the bike, so different from the Yamaha he was used to: "I'm able to be fast with Aprilia, doing good lap times, but I'm lacking the right feeling to be consistent throughout an entire weekend. We still achieved our goal, which was to get ready for 2022, identifying the areas we need to work on&rdquo;. &ldquo;We have an extremely clear idea as to what they are and that is what I'm most pleased about, because during the winter, the engineers will be able to use this data and the experience accumulated to make the new RS-GP more suited to my needs", concludes the Spanish rider. Translated by Heather Watson Valentino Rossi is named "MotoGP Legend&rdquo;       

The final race weekend of the year was not a simple one for the RS-GP, but Espargar&oacute; and Vi&ntilde;ales are nevertheless optimistic ahead of 2022

MotoGP Valencia: a disappointing season finale for the Aprilia riders

We were all shaken up on Sunday 3 October when we witnessed the Moto3 incident at the GP of the Americas. Deniz Oncu changed trajectory along the straight, touching Jeremy Alcoba&#39;s front wheel and causing him to crash, which then led Andrea Migno and Pedro Acosta to fall too. Miraculously no one was seriously hurt, but the Stewards Panel decided to intervene and disqualify the Turk from the next two races.  The comparison with Formula 1   A significant penality, but a correct one, considering the gravity of the situation that the Tech3 rider caused in making that move. His manager, Kenan Sofuoglu, five-time Supersport champion as well as mentor to other Turkish riders including Toprak Razgatlioglu, Can Oncu and Bahattin Sofuoglu, has spoken out against the decision. Interviewed by Speedweek, he commented: &ldquo;The penalty is unfair. Just look at the video, I see manoeuvres that are much more dangerous than Deniz&rsquo;s. For me, the main reason the riders are complaining about my guys is because they&rsquo;re fast. They can&rsquo;t beat them. So they find reasons to complain&rdquo;.  Sofuoglu has defended his riders behaviour, also referring to F1 to make his point: &ldquo;We see it in Formula 1 too, the apex of motorsport, with guys like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen who drive very aggressively. To be successful, you have to ride aggressively, it&rsquo;s part of the sport&quot;.  Espargar&oacute; says his piece   Aleix Espargar&oacute; was quick to respond, commenting on Twitter: &ldquo;Oh my god&hellip; luckily this guy is &lsquo;far&rsquo; from the MotoGP paddock!&rdquo;&nbsp;The Aprilia rider went on to explain: &ldquo;I&#39;m completely sure, zero doubts, that Oncu didn&rsquo;t do it on purpose, but they are young so this is why they need to learn. Dorna did the right thing with the penalty to teach him, but his manager has no brain so did the opposite thing&rdquo;.  To back up his statement, the Spaniard outlined the Turk&rsquo;s error: &ldquo;Oncu changed his line in the middle of the straight, moving from the right side (where he have to stay as was the good line for next corner) to the left side where the other rider was and couldn&rsquo;t disappear&rdquo;.  Translated by Heather Watson  MotoGP, Alex Marquez: a 2021 in free fall 

The Aprilia rider takes a stand against the Turkish rider, who has said he doesn&rsquo;t agree with the penalty inflicted on his rider after he sparked a terrible incident in Moto3

Oncu case, Aleix Espargar&oacute; versus Kenan Sofuoglu: &ldquo;He has no brain&quot;

        After its historic podium at Silverstone, Aprilia comes to Arag&oacute;n on the wings of excitement and now the Noale team wants to consolidate the progress shown by the RS-GP at a track that has often showcased the talents of Aleix Espargar&oacute;. Espargar&oacute;: "I adore this track"  "I really like the Arag&oacute;n track, I always get on well regardless of the conditions&rdquo;, admits the Spaniard. &ldquo;This year we head there with a particular spirit, that's for sure, after such an important result and with high expectations&rdquo;. But #41 is keeping his guard up: &ldquo;We need to stay focused and continue to work race by race. We know we can fight for the top positions, the Silverstone podium has simply confirmed this.&rdquo; Vi&ntilde;ales: "An important opportunity"  While Espargar&oacute; is key to the Noale project, all eyes will be on this weekend&rsquo;s &lsquo;new-entry&rsquo;, or rather Maverick Vi&ntilde;ales. The former Yamaha rider has left his problems behind and has already proved competitive aboard the Aprilia during a first test at Misano. "I can&rsquo;t wait to be back on track. The chance to get straight out there is important, particularly in terms of preparing for the 2022 season&rdquo;, comments Maverick. He knows this debut appearance won&rsquo;t be easy, but what matters is clocking up the miles ahead of next season: &ldquo;I might not be 100% ready, after just two days of testing, but riding with the others and competing against Aleix, who is doing great things, will help me to improve my feeling with RS-GP&rdquo;. Vi&ntilde;ales is clearly excited: &ldquo;The Aprilia guys are motivated, I can sense the enthusiasm and desire to grow, and that spurs me on to get straight out there". Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Vi&ntilde;ales and Aprilia together at last. What to expect?       

His Yamaha experience forgotten, the Spaniard prepares for his debut race aboard the Italian bike. He will be flanked by Aleix Espargar&oacute;, the third-place finisher at the British GP

MotoGP, Viñales: “I won’t be in top shape at Aragón, but I can’t wait”

        When Aprilia came to MotoGP in 2015, it struggled to compete with its rivals, but hard work, consistency, continuous belief and motivation have paid off. And the seventh season has brought a first podium at the Silverstone circuit, scored by Aleix Espargar&oacute;, the rider almost entirely responsible for the development of today&rsquo;s RS-GP. The Spaniard has been in Aprilia colours since 2017 and shares an enviable connection with the Noale manufacturer. Emotion prevails  Having celebrated in parc ferm&eacute;, embracing every member of the team, the Spaniard wanted to make a speech once back in the garage, thanking the team from the bottom of his heart. Captured by the Sky Sport MotoGP cameras, the 32-year old said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen any of my mechanics speaking badly about another team or commenting on any of my results or crashes. You&rsquo;ve changed the engines 40,000 times, in 2018 I crashed 43 times and wanted to stop racing&rdquo;. But then came the improvement and it all began to move in the right direction: &ldquo;The last two years have been incredible. We didn&rsquo;t score this podium because someone crashed or because it rained, but because we deserved it. We should have done it already in Qatar, so we&rsquo;re a little late, but I&rsquo;m really proud of you all. You&rsquo;re the best team in the paddock!&rdquo; And this is just the beginning. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Rivola: &ldquo;Vi&ntilde;ales? The aim is to have him race as soon as he's ready&rdquo;       

The Spaniard thanks the team and makes an emotional speech, acknowledging the tough times as well as the first milestone achieved together

MotoGP, Aleix Espargaró and his touching dedication to the Aprilia team

        After his win at the Sachsenring before the summer break, many expected to see a different Marc Marquez moving forward, less in difficulty than he was during the early rounds. And yet, the eight-time champion continues to struggle, his physical fitness less than ideal, without forgetting the technical difficulties that Honda is facing this season. "He&rsquo;s realised he can&rsquo;t beat Quartararo and Mir as and when he wants"  As if this weren&rsquo;t enough, #93 is now dealing with the latest debate about his riding, the issue raised this time by Aleix Espargar&oacute;. &ldquo;He makes moves that are on the limit, but the problem is the Stewards. No one is happy with the way they work. If there&rsquo;s a crash, then there&rsquo;s a penalty, if there&rsquo;s no crash, like today and we were lucky there wasn&rsquo;t, then no penalty&rdquo;, commented the Aprilia rider after the Styria GP, in reference to an episode that saw Marc come up hard on the inside of #41 but with no sanction made by Race Direction. Italian manager Carlo Pernat agrees with Espargar&oacute; and believes that Dorna should have intervened. &ldquo;After his accident, Marquez is going through the toughest time of his career and is also dangerous. Dorna should interview, if they don&rsquo;t penalise him, he&rsquo;ll carry on racing like this&rdquo;, he comments while talking to Tuttosport. Marquez is up against rivals who are as young and aggressive as he is, which puts him in a difficult situation in the top class: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s realised that he&rsquo;s going to be 'less' Marquez than he was before. He knows that if he crashes, he&rsquo;ll break, maybe everything&rdquo;, continues Pernat. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s also realised that he can&rsquo;t beat Quartararo and Mir as and when he wants. But beyond the physical difficulties, he also needs to deal with the psychological impact of the situation, as a rider who was used to dominating the category&rdquo;, he concludes. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP Austria, Petrucci unsure: &ldquo;I need to decide what I want&rdquo;       

The manager comments on the controversy between Marc Marquez and Aleix Espargar&oacute; following the contact at the start of the Styria GP

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