Aleix Espargaró finishes 11th in Jerez

It was an outstanding race for Aleix Espargaró in Jerez de la Frontera. Starting from the sixth row, the Spaniard moved up no less than four positions during the first lap. His pace, particularly in the second stage of the race, was consistently in the 38.5s and perfectly in line with that of the positions just off the podium. Making up ground lap after lap, Aleix was getting ready to attack Nakagami for ninth and only a contact with another rider while overtaking deprived him of a well-deserved top-10 finish. The narrow gap behind the race winner of just 15 seconds after 25 laps is worth a mention. With the 5 points earned today, Aleix brings his total to 18 – triple what he had at the same race last season.

Aleix Espargaró:

“In the very early stages of the race, I struggled to find traction, but after just five or six laps I began to feel more at ease, and I was lapping with a good pace. The situation got even better in the last ten laps, where I was decidedly consistent. I began to make up ground on the group of riders ahead of me and I knew I could battle with Nakagami and Crutchlow, who I was getting closer to. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible because Miller hit me as I was overtaking him. I was already all the way on the inside of the turn and it was a rather violent blow. Fortunately, I was able to keep it upright. However, that made me lose a position to Bradl. The race was our best track session of the weekend and that makes me happy. Right now, obtaining the maximum result and not making mistakes is the important thing, and today we were able to do that. Tomorrow will be another very important day of testing. I’ll be the first one out on the track, and we will keep working hard to improve.”