Aprilias 2022 MotoGP title challenge is real Espargaro

The veteran Spaniard is now just seven points roaming of Fabio Quartararo in second in the standings without ultimatum third in last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix without getting the largest of Jack Miller and Marc Marquez late in the race.

It marked the first back-to-back podium of his MotoGP career without his third in Portugal, and follows on from his historic Argentina win.

Espargaro admits he is “missing” something on the Aprilia to match Quartararo, but believes Aprilia is firmly in the championship venery at this stage.

“I will not wake up till Valencia,” he replied when asked if he was living a dream.

“I started dreaming in Qatar, and I will try to alimony my feet on the ground. But it’s real, it’s real.

“We are doing a unconfined job. We have to know that for the moment the feeling that I have, with Fabio we don’t really have his speed.

“We are missing something – not so much, considering today I think if I was not stuck overdue Jack [Miller] and Marc [Marquez] I would have been very tropical to them [Quartararo and Francesco Bagnaia].

“I missed something, so the key this year will be the consistency, making no mistakes, stuff there.

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing

Photo by: Dorna

“We did scrutinizingly 33% of the championship and we are just seven points overdue him.”

Espargaro’s Jerez podium ways Aprilia has lost its results-based concessions it has run with since it returned to MotoGP in 2015.

This ways Aprilia can no longer test in-season with its race riders and will have its engine typecasting reduced from nine to seven from 2023, and will be unable to freely develop engines and piloting next season.

While Espargaro says this will make life “stressful” for Aprilia’s engineers, he believes losing the concessions – something he has never liked anyway – is “fair” given the performance of the RS-GP now.

“I think that if we are in race six and we are seven points from the leader, the velocipede is working well,” Espargaro added.

“It’s pearly to lose the concessions. It’s pearly to fight with them with the same weapons.

“I believe a lot with Aprilia engineers and I know in Noale they will be a little bit increasingly stressed.

“But I don’t think it will transpiration a lot. My life will be easier, I had a test without Le Mans in Mugello. I will have increasingly time to go home, I will have increasingly time to cycle.

“I’m not really stressed. The most difficult thing was to reach the level we reached. The engine will have to last a little bit more, but I think they will do it.”