Aprilia concludes “part of its history” with the departure of Espargaró

Aprilia will enter a new era in 2025, welcoming Jorge Martín, the reigning champion, and Marco Bezzecchi. The brand wanted to keep Maverick Viñales but the latter preferred to embark on a new challenge, and it also said goodbye to Aleix Espargaró, who decided to end his career as a starter.

Espargaró was more than a rider for Aprilia. Arriving in 2017, at a time when the brand was far from the top places, he took on the role of captain and guided the development of the bike, accepting disappointments and remaining faithful while many of his friends refused to ride. the second machine, considered too inefficient.

At the time of parting with a driver renowned for his whole character, Massimo Rivola could not hide his emotion. “Of course, Aleix spent eight years with us, so he is more than a driver to us, he is like a brother in a way and we wish him the best.”explained the boss of Aprilia Racing to the official championship website. “It’s very moving.”

“If we also think about Aleix's personality who is quite transparent in everything he does and he always does everything to the fullest. If there is a big emotion, either you cry or you laugh, but you get used to it and [au GP de Barcelone] It was very beautiful to see him fight so much.”

With Espargaró, Aprilia went from the back of the grid to fighting for points, then the top 10, the podium and finally victory, the Catalan having enjoyed success three times with the RS-GP in the main races. “It’s a part of our history”summarized Paolo Bonora, race director of the official team.

“Aleix joined us in 2017 when we were in the initial stages of our MotoGP project. We hadn't scored any points in the championship, so he trusted us 100% and we achieved incredible goals with podiums and victories. We thank him very much for his efforts, his strength, his energy, and for being part of our family for so long.

“Aleix remains in our hearts, just like Maverick”he added, also saluting the role of Viñales in recent years: “We had the goal to win at least one race with him and we did it so we are very happy. With his modern style on the bike, we saw a different approach to riding our bike, so we made progress and takes a further step forward in the project. We would like to thank them both for the years they spent with us.”

Espargaró no longer wants to be in the center

During Espargaró's last weekend on the Aprilia, several celebrations were organized, with a ride on his first 125cc and the broadcast of images of the highlights of his career in the Aprilia garage. Just two days after the race, he began his new life as a Honda test rider, which he will combine with a role as an ambassador for the Lidl-Trek team in cycling, his great passion, with the dream of participate in races even if nothing is planned at the moment, his level must first be evaluated.

“What I want now is to completely disconnect”confided Espargaró when ending his career in MotoGP, no longer wanting to be the center of gravity of his family: “I want to relax, have fun, spend time with my wife and children. I think they deserve my time after a long career.”

“I was the only one that mattered in the family, everything was linked to my work, so now I think it's time to give them back some time. But I'm going to miss motorcycles in a few weeks, that's for sure. J “I was very lucky to sign with Honda to help them develop the bike. I'm very curious to see how the bike is after many seasons with Aprilia.”

With Lena Buffa