Aleix Espargaro: “Quartararo, not at the level; Bagnaia, maybe lost confidence”

Bagnaia won (his first race of 2022 en route to the championship) ahead of then-champion and title rival Quartararo, with Espargaro down in P7.

But Aprilia rider Espargaro, one of many returning to their home race at the Spanish MotoGP this weekend, insists he is a threat to claim victory.

“Fabio, this year? Him or the Yamaha are not at the level of last year, it looks like,” Espargaro said.

“Pecco? After the crash in America, maybe he will lose some confidence.

“Let’s see how the race is. I was very strong last year, I was stuck behind Marc Marquez and Jack Miller for many laps.

“Then when I had free space I was at a similar pace to the winners.

“It can be a good circuit for us.

“I’m going for the win. It sounds strange but I think I’m faster than last year.

“In America I did the second-fastest lap in the race, I finished fourth in the sprint in my worst circuit.

“I have the speed. I have nothing to change. Just relax, try to have fun.”

Aleix Espargaro: "You believe it will never fail, but..."

Espargaro had claimed a P4 finish in the sprint race at the Grand Prix of the Americas last time out but his challenge in the Sunday race was over within one lap.

He blamed it on his ride height device failing to unlock - in Jerez, he admits it is a fundamental issue with his Aprilia which could resurface.

“I still believe that I did the first part with the bike low, when I touched the throttle I had no weight at the front. So something was not working,” Espargaro said.

“Our problem - and this is difficult to change - is that, in other brands like Ducati, when you aren’t able to brake super-strong in the corner, the ride height device recovers 75% or 90% of the stroke. Then you can ride.

“If our brake isn’t strong enough, the ride height device doesn’t recover anything.

“This is why I did the very lap with the bike low. It’s something we can’t change.

“We didn’t have these problems in preseason in Malaysia. 

“When the bike arrived into the garage, I was told the bike was low.

“It is clear in the data that the bike was in the right position. But when I touched the throttle, the bike was low.”

Is it something Espargaro must work on solving?

“No. It can happen again,” he said. “Last year I had the same problem here in Jerez. I touched Marc Marquez, my ride height device didn’t recover. So I went wide, Marc overtook in Corner 1, then in Corner 2, my rear ride height device recovered.”

He insisted it would not damage his confidence: “No because you believe it will never fail. 

“There are many things in the bike that can fail, but you can’t think ‘is this working?’

“In the future if we ban the ride height device while we are riding, it will be easier.

“But the starts? In the last seasons it has been easier - less wheelies. The riders’ behaviour is more clean.”