‘I’m sorry’ – Aleix Espargaro explains big early-finish error
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The Aprilia rider, who had dominated much of the weekend but was unable to match Fabio Quartararo in the race, had been holding off the Pramac Ducatis of Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco for second when he backed off and began waving at Turn 1.As riders accelerated past, Espargaro realised his shocking error, which ultimately dropped him to fifth place, and was inconsolable in the garage afterwards.“I’m sorry. That’s the only thing that I can say, sorry to my team. It’s completely my fault,” he said.This is Marc Marquezâs FINAL ROLL OF THE DICE! | MotoGP Podcast 48 Part 1Video of This is Marc Marquezâs FINAL ROLL OF THE DICE! | MotoGP Podcast 48 Part 1Espargaro is not the first rider to make such an error at Barcelona, previous examples including Kenny Roberts in 2006 and Julian Simon in 2009.Related Catalunya: New 2022 MotoGP World Championship standings Catalunya MotoGP, Barcelona Circuit – Race ResultsAll have followed a similar pattern, with a rider misunderstanding the laps remaining on the main straight timing tower, rather than looking at their pit board or for a chequered flag.In Espargaro’s case, the Aprilia garage was also the first out of the fast final corner and he was often failing to see his pit board, causing him to rely even more on the timing tower to countdown the laps.“My people [with the pit board] were the first ones [out of the last corner], so I had no time to watch the lap,” he said. “Some laps I had no time to look at the laps [remaining] and the gap with Martin.Related Moto2 Catalunya: Vietti wins last lap battle with Canet for Victory Catalunya Moto2 Grand Prix, Barcelona – Race Results“I was pushing to the limit so I just watched the gap with Martin, +0.6, then I watched the tower and I saw ‘L1’. So I did one lap and then I didn’t remember that here in Barcelona last lap is ‘0’ not ‘1’. And I closed the gas on the straight.“So I’m very sorry for my team because, I didn’t have the speed of Fabio to win. But if I want to beat him in the championship I cannot do these mistakes. Today I lost 9 points, so I’m very sorry.””4Espargaro remains second in the world championship but the end of his four-race podium streak has seen him slip 22 points from reigning champion Quartararo.With hindsight, Espargaro felt he could have at least stuck with Quartararo at the start of the race but had been too wary of tyre conservation.“Yesterday between Michelin and my team, everybody put a lot of worry into my [mind] by saying that I use a lot of tyre, that I had to be gentle on the first laps and I was too gentle sincerely,” Espargaro said.”5“Because at the end of the race, when I overtook Martin, I had enough tyre to put 41.5s and go away.“I think Fabio was not faster than me, but he was smarter, was able to push at the beginning, and then it’s impossible to recover 2 – 2.5 seconds to Fabio. I think I could have gone with him at the beginning. But anyway, it’s too late.”Team-mate Maverick Vinales, who gambled on the soft rear, finished seventh.
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