Analyzing the 2023 season
For me , this year , you know , it ’ s something very strange . When I ' m fast , I ' m unbeatable . But then , the overall feeling is not as good as last year . I can just say to you that I ' m very happy about the two victories , but it will not be the truth . I would change the two victories for seven podiums . Because now , we would be fighting for the title , and I cannot fight for the podium in every circuit . Obviously , I ' m happy because I won two races , which is very , very difficult to do in a season . But unfortunately , I don ' t have the speed that I had last season . Or let ' s make it different : the others have more speed than us . I felt that we are a little bit farther than last year .
The rivals
Basically , Ducati has improved so much on the breaking zone , and we haven ’ t , so I think that ’ s one of the main reasons . The level that they reach is not just because of the package they have , it ' s also because of the way they work , and the way they work is also because they have eight bikes on track . If you analyze India , for example , a new layout : the level on Friday and the level on Saturday qualifying , it was amazing the difference . And this is because they were very good , for sure , but because they have a lot of bikes to analyze , a lot of different possible settings . And then have , obviously , very smart engineers that are able to put everything together and to make the step . Hopefully in the near future , we can understand how to stretch more the satellite team , and to have some benefits on the factory ( bike ) because for the moment nothing has changed .
Aprilia
I don ' t know if I ' m allowed to say this , but I ' m the one who pushed more Massimo ( Rivola ) to give them the factory bike over this year . For me , it makes no sense to have that team that has the old bikes . If the satellite rider is better than the factory ( rider ), OK , then you have to accept it . In Ducati this year is happening also . So , it ' s not a problem , this is MotoGP . So , for me , the best ideal thing will be to have factory bikes . I ' m happy about my physical conditions . I ’ m in a moment in my life that I ' m enjoying a lot with my family . I have to say that this last two seasons , I ' ve been closer to Jorge [ Martin ], who is a lot younger than me , and I get a little bit of his energy .
10 MINS WITH
Aleix Espargaró
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