Aleix Espargaro admits his “expectation was a bit too high” at the start of the season following first win in a year

Aleix Espargaro talks about his victory in Silverstone having defeated Pecco Bagnaia.

Aleix Espargaro admits his “expectation was a bit too high” at the start of the season following first win in a year

Aleix Espargaro ( Via Aprilia Racing team socials)

The 2023 British MotoGP round was filled with drama all around. Amidst the choas that was present at Silverstone, Aleix Espargaro emerged to the occasion and went on to win Sunday’s main race. The Aprilia rider had started the race in 12th place. He further went on to make progress at the start of the race as he kept passing riders throughout. 

Aleix Espargaro went on to battle with Ktm’s Brad Binder and Maverick Vinales which had probably prevented him from fighting with Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia on multiple occasions. However, despite the difficulties, the Spaniard never let Bagnaia out of his site and kept on chasing him after Marco Bezzecchi crashed. It was a dramatic moment as Pecco’s life was made easier when it came to the championship standings.

Speaking about his first win in over a year, Espargaro said: “I’m very happy to be back on top! Maybe at the beginning of the season the expectation was a bit too high on my side and the team,” he said. “I made too many mistakes and lost too many points. I’ve had good speed, many Fridays and in many sessions I was very close to Pecco but it doesn’t matter,” he continued. 

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Aleix Espargaro waited until the last moment to attack Pecco Bagnaia

Aleix Espargaro ( Via Aprilia Racing team socials)
Aleix Espargaro ( Via Aprilia Racing team socials)

During the early stages of the race, Pecco Bagnaia came in contact with another rider leading to him losing his wings. This meant trouble for the Italian in the long run. Meanwhile, Aleix Espargaro was in a position to attack the Ducati rider throughout the ending stages of the race. Lap after lap, it became clear that Pecco was losing traction as the grand prix kept going on. 

During the last lap of the race, Aleix Espargaro chose to overtake Pecco Bagnaia at turn 11 at Silverstone. Having braked very late, he went round the outside and got better acceleration than the Ducati rider. All things considered, Silverstone was a race filled with drama as multiple riders crashed out and had incidents. It will be interesting to see how Marco comes back to challenge Pecco in Austria. 

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