Aleix Espargaro began the campaign with only two ꦓpodium appearances from eleven seasons in MotoGP ꦑand as the only rider on the grid without a victory in any grand prix class.

Meanwhile, the RS-GP had taken just one rostrum in the previous seven years, five of them spent with Espargaro as ‘captain’, leaving 💮April💃ia last of the manufacturers since 2015.

Confidence was high af﷽ter the 2022 pre-season testing, however, there had bee🍌n false dawns before.

But there was no doubti✱ng the outcome of round three, in Argentina, where Espargaro took pole position, fastest lap, a long-awaited race victory and the world championship lead.

Yamaha’s reigning champion Fabio Quartararo and Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia claimed their firs🦩t victories of the year shortly after, suggesting normal title order had been restored.

But by the time Espargaro climbed the podium for the sixth time at Aragon, twelve races after his Arge꧑ntine victory, he was back withi✤n 17 points of the championship lead heading into the flyaways.

Ultimately, technical mistakes and a downturn in performance saw Espargaro and team-mate Maverick Vinales - who added three podiums late in the European season - matched on just 18 points each, out of a possible 100, during the 'nightm꧙are' overseas quartet.

Not only did it officially sink Espargaro’s title hopes at the penu⛄ltimate round in Sepang, but he now heads to the Valencia finale just one point clear of Enea Bastianini in the fight for third.

Regardless of wh♓at happens at Valencia, younger brother Pol feels the disappointment of seeing the title dream slip away is still ꧅too fresh for Aleix and Aprilia to fully comprehend what they have achieved this season.

“They've been super, fighting for the tit🌱le all season," said Pol. "It's not fair to say that Aleix deserves it [more] than Bagnaia or Quartararo, but what he has done with Aprilia, what they have done together, is something that will stay in the [history] books.

“For sure Aleix and Aprilia do not realise at the moment how big th🌺eir achievement is, because it’s difficult to see the big picture.

“But I'm sure a couple o♛f weeks after Valencia when they figure it out - it doesn’t matter if he finishes third, fourth or fifth in the championship - what they have done this year nobody expected, even them.

“They have been super all year; Aleix’s riding and Aprilia with the bike. I wish one day to do a championship like Aleix did this year,” adde🌞d Pol, who started his final season at the factory Honda team with a podium but has faded to 16th in the standings.

‘Even the fireworks were yellow in 2006’

While Espargaro 🐼and Enea Bastianini have now dropped out of title contention, Bagnaia takes a near unbeatable 23-point le♒ad over Quartararo into next weekend’s season finale.

“We have seen some strange endings in Valencia. I remember a big one when everyone was expecting Valentino would win the title [in 2🅰006], but finally Hayden took it,” Espargaro said.

“Even the fireworks were yellow! And Nicky was on the orange Honda. So nobody expeꦆcted it.

“Everythi🌸ng can happen in the championship. But I think Bagnaia at Valencia, where t𒉰hey have been fast last year, I think it’s a match point for him.”

Quartararo must win the race to have any chance of the title and then als💜o needs Bagnaia to fin🍒ish 15th or lower.

Meanwhile, Aprilia hoওlds a 5-point lead over Yamaha in the fight for second in the constructors’ standings behind Ducati, and a 28-point lead over Red Bull KTM for runner-up in the teams’ championship (also to Ducati).