May 23, 2024, 8:12 PM ET
The Spaniard from Aprilia announced that he will leave the activity at the end of 2024, amid the excitement and greetings of all his colleagues.
Aleix Espargaró could not choose a better place in the world to announce his retirement from MotoGP: the Circuit of Catalonia. There, where as a child he began to build his dream of one day being a motorcycle racer. There, where he finally managed to take his first steps in the activity. There he sat alone in a chair, in front of the press, his colleagues and his family and communicated: “This is a very special place for me, where I grew up since I was little and it is the perfect place to say that I decided to give up motorcycles,” he announced. the Aprilia driver.
Espargaró is Pol’s older brother, also a racer and today in the role of KTM and GasGas tester. He debuted in the World Championship in 2004 in the old 125 cc category, today renamed Moto3. After passing through 250 cc, the one from Granollers jumped to MotoGP in the 2009 Indianapolis GP to replace Mika Kallio. In 2011 he went down to Moto2 and since 2012 he has been a full rider in the top category of the World Championship. He arrived at Aprilia in 2017 and had the great pleasure of achieving three wins, the first of all in the 2022 Argentine GP. Last year he celebrated in Great Britain before fulfilling his dream: he won in Catalonia .
“Not even the best screenwriter in Hollywood would have imagined that he could win races at the age of 30 and make podiums with a brand that had never achieved it.”. Surely that child who debuted here many years ago would be happy. I have made many mistakes in my life by choosing with my heart and not my head. My head tells me that I can continue, I am still fast, competitive. But my heart asks me to stop, spend more time at home, see my children grow, be with my wife. So I decided to take the step aside. I thank Aprilia for this dream achieved in these years, my children, my family, my brother, who was always…”, said Aleix before breaking down in tears.
Minutes later, The entire paddock came to hug and greet Espargaró, before the eyes of his wife Laura and his children, the twins Max and Mía.. The preview of the sixth date of the World Cup should have revolved around the fight in the table led by Jorge Martín, with 38 points ahead of Pecco Bagnaia, 40 more than Marc Márquez and Enea Bastianini. Chapters should have been added to the novel that has Ducati and its second factory motorcycle for 2025, with Martín, Marc and the Beast as candidates to occupy it, with the situation of the Indian GP. But everything changed suddenly with Aleix’s announcement.
