Aleix Espargaro: “It’s been a perfect weekend”

Dani Pedrosa had been the favourite to win the Catalan GP after his record pole lap yesterday, but in the end it was Jorge Lorenzo who took the triumph on Spanish soil. The Majorcan was able to ride a great race for 25 laps at the Circuit de Catalunya, with Pedrosa and Marc Márquez just behind.

The race had begun with a series of crashes at the La Caixa corner, as a quintet of Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Márquez, Crutchlow and Rossi broke away from the rest. Crutchlow crashed out, Rossi lost ground gradually and Lorenzo but enough of a gap in place to ride comfortably. Márquez tried to overtake Pedrosa for second late on, but he would place third on the podium.

Aleix Espargaró leads the way in the CRT standings and has been the best of that group for the opening six races. However, the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar has had to improve with every round and was excellent once again at Montmeló. He had to battle against a lack of front end grip throughout the contest today. He had seen many rivals crash out, and wanted to avoid a similar fate.

He crossed the line in eighth after a solo ride, taking the position for the second consecutive race and once again equalling a best ever CRT result.

8th Aleix Espargaró:
“I am very happy with the result today, my team and I have had a special weekend. When I saw all the supporters cheering us on the lap of honor, I got goosebumps. I was the best CRT and my brother Pol won the Moto2 race, so it has been a perfect weekend. To be honest, today is not the best race I’ve ever ridden, because I noticed that the front wheel had no grip and I almost crashed several times. I was riding tense, just focusing on reaching the end. We remain the CRT to beat, but we would still like to be closer to the official riders. When the asphalt is too hot the bike skids around and we can’t corner quickly, then we lack power under acceleration compared to the official bikes. Tomorrow we have a test here, there are many new things to try, and we will aim to keep improving to be ever more competitive.”

Source: Aspar Media