MotoGP Jerez: Keith Huewen: 'Have we underestimated Aleix Espargaro?'

Francesco Bagnaia’s first win of the season, Aleix Espargaro propelling Aprilia out of Concessions, Marc Marquez’s save and who goes where in 2023 - all this and more in the latest wuqian0821.com MotoGP podcast featuring Keith Huewen.
Aleix Espargaro Fabio Quartararo MotoGP race, Spanish MotoGP. 1 May
Aleix Espargaro Fabio Quartararo MotoGP race, Spanish MotoGP. 1 May

Bagnaia kept his cool under constant pressure from Quartararo to finally hand the factory Ducati team a victory with its GP22, while ten seconds behind them Espargaro battled past Marc Marquez and Jack Miller t✤o snatch the final place on the podium.

It was Espargaro’s third podium in six races and he now holds second placꦇe in the world championship, just seven points from Quartararo.

Throw in last year’s S꧋ilverstone rostrum and Aprilia have now reached 6 Concession Points and will now race under the same technical rules as their rivals from 2023𒐪.

“A great ride. Are we un𝓰derestimating Aleix? Has he made the step as much as Aprilia?,” ꦉsaid former British champion and grand prix rider Huewen.

“ It’s going to be very interesting. Vinales still isn’t c💦utting the mustard, I don’t know where he’s going to go at the end of this year. He is a brilliant rider and even came out with the Top Gun helmet, that was worth a second a lap on it’s own! But the fact is that Maverick is not performing and Aleix is perꦰforming.

"Maybe Aleix is - apart from a world-class whinger aไt times! - one of the very top class riders that has been underestimate🌃d.

“Maybe he has gone from&nb𒊎sp;being the one-trick pony who used to stick in a fast lap and not manage to repeat it in the race - maybe that has all been dialled out now and Aleix is a much better m♔otorcycle racer than a lot of people have given him credit for.

“Whoever might come into that team alongside 🐼him [in 2023] has got a tough adversary there. Aleix has got confidence, he’s had a couple of podiꦺums now, which has also put them out of Concessions next year.

“So Aprilia will join the other manufacturers on seven engines, no extra testing and so on. There’s quite a lot that they will lose next year, bಞut Aprilia are right up there now.

“Concessions is a great system 🧸in🎃 MotoGP and if any manufacturer falls behind and doesn’t get a podium in one season, they re-gain Concessions the next year. So it works both ways.”

wuqian0821.com podcast
wuqian0821.com podcast

Huewen, wuqian0821.com MotoGP editor Pete McLaren and podcast host Harry Benjamin, also discuss more costly incidents for Jorge Martin and Alex Rins and name who they would pick if they🅰 ran a MotoGP team in 2023.

Among the names being linked with MotoGP next season is Ai Ogura, 𓃲who took his first Moto2 victory on Sunday in a race that saw a brave ride from the injured Aron Canet while Brit🐠s Sam Lowes and Jake Dixon both crashed out.

Meanwhile, victory in the ever-e🎐ntertaining Moto3 class came down to a last-turn pass.

Download Episode 44 at the following links...

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