Interview Aleix Espargaró: «I still dream of being champion this year»
by Josep Lluis Merlos
Aleix Espargaró came within 3 points of Quartararo after the French GP. He is now 32 behind the reigning world champion. His main concern may be a Bagnaia on a roll that is dangerously close to him on the board. In fact, the Italian is already emerging from third place, just 12 points behind.
His fall at Silverstone does not prevent him from continuing to be the only MotoGP rider who has scored points in all the races held to date, but the fracture in his left foot took its toll on him in Austria, a stop&go track clearly contrary to the characteristics of his Aprilia, where he could only be “sixth”. Since the race in Italy he has not been on the podium again, although he has five, two less than Favio, but the same as Pecco. However, the flame of hope of the best Aleix Espargaró of all time is not extinguished at all, and he hopes to return to the drawer on the slopes that await him until the end of the year.
The interview with Aleix Espargaró
-Aleix, do you still see yourself as world champion, or not anymore?
“I always dream of it. And even today it is still a dream, but I see it as a real dream… with options to become a reality”
-But in MotoGP, if you win the title, they won't give you the 'Rainbow jersey' as you would like…
“No, but they will give me the bike with which I can win the title, which is much more valuable”.
-And if you succeed, why don't you wear the Rainbow in 2023, like the world champion cyclists, on your pilot suit?
“I hadn't thought about it, but it seems like a great idea. I will do it".
-And if you don't win the title, what will happen?
“That I will not be able to put on that jersey! But what can't happen, in any way, is that if I don't win it and finish second, third, fourth, I don't know! There is someone who only remembers this season because I could have lost the title, or who thinks that I have failed. Because, whatever happens, this year is already a resounding success. A few months ago I would have agreed to sign what is happening this season with blood letters, so it would be intolerable if we didn't win the title if we were angry”.
-Among your virtues, your sincerity stands out. And so it has gone for you, with some chickens that you have had, especially in the networks. Would you be able to lie in exchange for the title?
"No never! Absolutely not! A victory, a title...these are things that are fine, of course. But, for me, having personality, living in coherence with your ideals, going to bed and waking up calm… is much more important”.
-If you win the title, they will remind you that Marc Márquez was “not there”…
“Yes. They already told Mir and Quartararo. Marc has been for the first half of the year, and doing it regularly in the top eight… but he was not able to beat me. It is true that he has not been physically well and that he has not had the best Honda, but in the end the level of the championship is always very high, and winning -whoever there is- is always very difficult”.
-Last year, when I turned 60 tacos, I started my first podcast. On twitter there was no lack of a hater who said: “Do you want an example of a “plug generation”? There you have it: Merlos's boomer, who at his age occupies a space that should be for someone younger ”. How about? Let them tell you about “old age, smallpox...”
-I am totally against attitudes like that of this critic. On the contrary: for me an intelligent person is the one who knows how to recycle himself, to be able to learn with the new... I have never understood the topic of YouTube gamers , for example, but I respect him a lot because it is his job. They work a lot, really, and you have to respect it as just another job. But it is clear that it is necessary to recycle…
Experience is a degree. It is not a cliché but a truth. In my first years in the World Championship, when we raced in Montmeló I couldn't sleep at night because of how stressed I was with the pressure from the people... But now that I'm fighting for the championship, that I'm ahead, I'm just as calm as when I was the fifteen… or more! Age can be an advantage in many things”.
His first victory at a late age
-It took you almost 200 races to win your first GP… almost at Christ's age. But you have done it!
“And I'm very proud of it. Now that I have achieved it, it may sound advantageous, but I am really very proud of what I have achieved because I have worked like a bastard since I started traveling the world alone at the age of fifteen. I come from a humble family, and everything I have I have worked for myself… and a victory, or even a world title, will not change these twenty years of sports career”.
-Winning in Argentina was like a liberation for you?
"Yes. You take a big weight off your shoulders. More than happy, I felt like I was drugged, floating... I thought I would be happier, but it wasn't as I expected. I had a very heavy feeling of relaxation. I was very happy for my team, for my family, for all the people who have worked with me for a long time, because if they have been able to endure all this time and so many difficult moments, they surely deserved to enjoy that moment”.
-Your victory was celebrated by the whole world… I find it hard to imagine someone who didn't. But, in addition, that podium was something very special with Rins, Jorge Martín... three great friends who were there together. The Ducati rider confessed to me that, logically, he tried to win the race, but that you had done it made him as happy as if he had achieved it…
“It's true. I read a summary of everyone's statements about my victory, and he made me as happy as being first. That's what's super nice: seeing how my teammates love me, and it's something I'm always going to take with me. There were those who said that " now the next podiums will not make you so excited "... and it is not true. I have continued to enjoy each and every one of those that have come after…
I was moved to read an interview with Livio Suppo in which he said that if any of his riders won the title he would be very happy... but if I did... too! For someone who is your rival, a team manager from another team, who has as much experience as him, to say this, it's brutal."
-Suppo doesn't usually give many compliments…
“It's true. That's why I value his comments so much, and even more so if you take into account that I don't have a special relationship with him. In fact, when I started at Suzuki he hit me with some sizable sticks when he did poorly. This is one more example of how great is what we are achieving”.
-Did what happened in Montmeló screw you?
"Much. I was very excited to win at home, in front of my team, the “ espargarins ”… I have as many memories of the victory in Argentina as of the podium in Jerez… I have forged myself on that track, I have raced there a thousand times in many different categories … and yet, he had never made a podium in that place with such a special atmosphere. Getting it in the queen class was brutal. Imagine what it would have been like to do it in Montmeló, where I grew up, three kilometers from my usual school…”
-You are younger, but there are some examples in professional sports, such as "Bala" Valverde, Rafa Nadal or Fernando Alonso that should motivate you a lot... If they continue, until when do you see yourself in the ointment?
“It's hard to say, let alone do. I really appreciate what they do: their mental and physical stress, the trips they have, the very hard training sessions, such an intense life... I'm not going to complain, because elite sport is a very nice job, despite these things. But believe me when I tell you that it's not all about celebrations, podiums, laughter... There's a lot of stress behind it, and holding on for as long as they do on the front line... I don't see myself capable.”
Aprilia's revolution
-Why is Aprilia the Brawn GP of motorcycles, as they say?
“Because we had never won before; because we come from being able to reinvent ourselves, to get closer to the best factories ever... and this is historic”.
-Yeah, but that F1 team didn't come from an existing base… and Aprilia hadn't eaten a donut for a long time, too long…
“Noale's racing department is the best in the entire paddock, without a doubt. The best. And I say this having been in departments of Japanese brands that have won many titles. But in Aprilia they have had to reinvent themselves because although they were very good in the two-stroke era, with the 4T it has cost them a lot. A team manager like Rivola had to arrive to order everything. The quality was already there, but it had to be brought online”.
-So important has been the Massimo Rivola factor?
“His arrival has brought many things to add to the technical quality that the team already had. 70-80% of the engineers are still the same as before his arrival. But he has been able to hit the key, motivate everyone, and put everyone to work in their rightful place… “
-I know him from his time in F1, and there he was very good at taking advantage of any loophole in the regulation... Does that possibility exist in motorcycles?
"Of course. A paddock number one in this is Gigi Dall'igna. The Italians are very good at that skill, and they have their own word, “ furbo ”, which means something like cunning, “smartass”, “roguish”… and Massimo is. It's not about cheating, but about being able to turn the rules around, about making a good bike. This year we have grown a lot in the aerodynamic part…and all this is very noticeable, thanks to him”.
-What has really changed this year on the bike?
“We have improved a lot in aerodynamics, in traction, and especially in terms of power. The bike turns at much higher revolutions. We have grown more in this aspect from the 21st to the 22nd than we did from the 17th to the 21st, to give you an idea… “
-But, does the bike go that well, or is it you who makes it work like that?
“The bike is going very well, true. But the result is the result of a motorcycle/rider binomial. I have my doubts that right now I could go as fast on a Ducati, which is probably still the best bike on the entire grid. And I have my doubts that Marc Márquez, for example, who is the best rider in recent times, even in perfect physical condition, would be able to beat me with the Aprilia.
Over time you get to know your bike better, you gain consistency, and now I am able to get 100% out of the Aprilia; but if someone very good suddenly comes along, and only gets 90%... it's not enough for him to beat me with this bike. I think that's the key".
-Is that why it cost Maverick? It was only a matter of time?
“Maverick now knows how to appreciate every detail of the bike, how the slightest change in temperature on the track or possible rain at night affects it, how it reacts with one tire or another… Until now, all this paid off in my favor , but now there is no such difference because it is clear that the speed Mack already had on him”.
-If you don't win the title, who will?
Fabio Quartararo. He is the one who knows his bike best, and he is fast and consistent at the same time. The Ducati riders are very fast, that is unquestionable, but so far they have not shown the consistency of Fabio.
The temperament of Aleix Espargaró and politics in MotoGP
-Have you suffered in recent times for your brother Pol?
“Suffering would not be the word. Pol has an incredible track record, a great family -with two beautiful girls-… and although he is not enjoying himself on the bike right now, I know that deep down he is very happy. Before, when he used to do this to her, he would come home and spend the day banging his head against the wall… but not now. He has his three princesses at home, and that fills him so much that I don't suffer for him at all”.
-When you stand behind him on the track, what is the first thing you think of?
“It makes me excited. When I see 44, even though he has done it a million three hundred thousand times, he still amazes me”.
-Would you have taken him to Aprilia as you did with Maverick?
"I would take him to the end of the world."
-Why don't you have a good vibe with the Marquez?
“Yes I do, but I'm very temperamental , and when something happens on the track, when it's hot… she explodes. But I think this is a positive thing. What's more, if it weren't like that, if everyone always said “ I'm very happy, we've done a good job ”… this world would be shit. I always say what I think, and sometimes I can be wrong, or I can exaggerate it -as happened with the Márquez-, but I have a great relationship with Marc.
In fact, before he went to America to have surgery I was with him in his motorhome, wishing him well, and he sincerely thanked me for coming to talk to him and giving him encouragement.”
-Are you the world champion in speed when sending people to hell?
"You think? Over time I have calmed down a lot… but I know that I am not far from winning that title you mention… “.
-How many times have you thought that "quiet would be cuter"?
"Nope. Never. I never think about it. You have to have personality in this life, otherwise this would be very boring. You have to have respect and education, although sometimes I have been able to lose it, true, but when it has happened I have always ended up apologizing. Most of the times that I've gotten into "scrubbing" I've never lost respect for anyone... and I think that's a good thing."
-Help me, because I don't know anything about this. What is politics?
"A mess."
-What do you think of protest gestures for social causes, like the ones we are seeing in Formula 1?
“If they don't do them for the gallery, and I don't think so, but because they think so, I think it's phenomenal. You have to do what comes from the heart to each one. I always do what I want and what I think, because in this life you have to have ideals”.
-On the bikes we don't see it so much...
“It's curious that in F1 they always seek to be very politically correct, even more so than on the bikes, and instead here we are guilty of being “ well-off ”. I think I'm one of the few who always say what he thinks…”
-For not seeing, we hardly see the flags of the winner's country in the honor lap of MotoGP…
“If I had won in Catalonia I would not have had any problem taking the Catalan flag. And whoever doesn't like it… I'm Catalan. I was born in Catalonia, but I am Spanish… and I live in Andorra. And maybe tomorrow I will go to live in Dubai, which is a place that both my wife and I like very much. You always have to do what you feel like doing, but it is true that there comes a time when to avoid problems and what you have achieved loses value because people get distracted talking about nonsense and not what they are about... that is what we have achieved: that the pilot says "I do not catch any flag".
-Is Barça more than a club?
“Barça is more than a club”.
-But you have less than a third of the Champions League that Real Madrid holds, noi …
“That's obvious. Of course we would enjoy it more if we had more Champions, more victories... But Barça with the club model it has, with players trained at home, with the game philosophy it has, with the ideology of "cruyfism"... I think it's something that Real Madrid doesn't have, for example, even though they have many more titles”.
-What marked you the most: the Blaugrana Dream Team, or the bikes from the “Verano Azul” series? “I did not see the series. I'm not that old, motherfucker. I have memories of the Dream Team like Koeman's Champions League... or everything we have inherited from that magical team".
-How many bikes do you have?
"Many, but enough for what I want to do."
-If you hadn't renewed for Aprilia… what? There were many of us who did not understand why they took so long to do it, and suddenly, when they did it for two seasons, I thought: “I don't understand anything”.
"Well, we are two. I wasn't lying when she said that if she didn't renew there was no problem. He was ready to go home. I have business, I want to do many things, to enjoy my children... I would have been very sad not to continue, but I was prepared to hang up my helmet as a one hundred percent official driver, and perhaps continue as a test driver for some team, or enjoy some “wild cars”. But it would have made me very sad as the level I have now is probably the best I've ever had. The logical thing was to continue, but don't think he was too worried about not doing it. In fact, he had never had such tense negotiations with any team, as they were for this renewal. But then… I haven't gotten off the podium!
-And after these two years, what will you do?
"Don't know. In the past I was very obsessed with the future. He thought about everything a lot. Now zero. It's about enjoying the moment. It's taken me a long time to get here, and I don't want to miss any moment of life. The future doesn't matter to me."
-Winning or not winning the title, isn't it going to condition you personally?
“I come home after a race, and I do the same thing and I have the same mood coming back from America eleventh as coming back first from Argentina. I go out by bike, I spend five hours pedaling, like with my wife, I pick up the children at school. I am privileged, I am super happy, so no matter what happens… nothing is going to change”.
-I remember your exultant image in the corralito de Jerez, and I wonder: can you be happier in this world?
“I answer you: no. Can't be happier. I am enjoying life like never before, at my best both in sports and family. It makes me angry that it didn't come earlier, because I would have enjoyed it longer... from 28 to 34. Now maybe I'll enjoy it after 34, but I'm very happy”.
-Or from the 40s, like Valentino!
“I don't see myself. I'm very well physically, and maybe I'll continue like this for a few more years, but right now it's hard for me to see myself with 36 studs still here”.
Aleix Espargaró's love of bikes
-But about becoming a bike pro, have you ever been serious?
"Yes. Never say Never. Becoming a professional cyclist at this age would be weird… but so is what I'm doing now on bikes, right? It is true that time passes and that it is getting more and more difficult, but if someone told me two years ago that I would have a chance of being world champion, like now, it would have been more credible to win the Tour… which is impossible”.
-Have you ever gone through life with “ training wheels ”?
"Nope. I have always done what I wanted. I always tell my team, my people: “we are the best”. But… we always have been! Three years ago I finished the thirteenth and we would go out to dinner, to have fun, and I always blurted out that phrase. Imagine now, that we almost did not get off the podium.”
-Have you ever jumped the chain in your life?
“There is one thing that I regret a lot. In the Amazon documentary, you can see a moment when my brother bothers me in training, at Silverstone, and I arrive at the box pissed off asking to be penalized... When I saw the documentary, you can't imagine how bad I felt. I called my brother and told him “Pol, earth swallow me. So sorry. I apologize. I see myself there and I would tear out my eyes…” I felt very bad, but when I was hot I reacted like this… “
-Being a father, what is it: how to level or how to climb the Cima Coppi?
“How to climb the Coppi summit. There is always one obstacle after another, one after another, one after another… but you know that when you reach the top you feel pure happiness. And, deep down, every day has its little peaks”.
-In life you have never been a sprinter, although sometimes you have starred in some demarraje, right? Now you are in one of them precisely, and not to score a flying goal...
“I'm a long-distance runner. And it is true that this year I am sprinting and achieving success, but I think that what is marking my season is being regular, persisting… I am a climber!”
- Aren't you afraid of the bird?
"No way. It is impossible for a bird to catch me”.