Aleix Espargaro: “Marc protected the inside and at the very last moment I decided not to do it. I could have made a big mess! In a special weekend for me, I didn't want that.”
After announcing his retirement at the end of this season, the Aprilia star promptly topped practice, took pole position and won the Saturday Sprint.
Dropping from pole to sixth in the early stages, Espargaro reclaimed ground and inherited third when Pedro Acosta crashed out on lap 11 of 24. “With the soft tyre, I was a lot stronger. But today with the medium I never felt good,” Espargaro said. “At the end I tried my best to stay close to Marc, but I was just sliding, sliding, sliding.
“You saw the first three bikes on the podium today and the Aprilia was fourth. I tried everything but not enough.”Espargaro finished 5.4s clear of the next-best Aprilia of Raul Fernandez, on the 2023-spec bike in fifth.But Espargaro admitted he could do nothing about the pace of Ducati duo Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, who finished ten seconds ahead.“ chose this track for testing and they improved a lot.
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