After a devastating weekend in Qatar with zero points, a leg injury and many problems, Aleíx Espargaró’s anger with Franco Morbidelli is far from over.
In reality, the time has come for Aleíx Espargaró to lick his wounds, turn the page and check what happened at the Qatar Grand Prix. The fact that the favorite of the Spanish public suffered a tear in his left fibula in the collision caused by Miguel Oliveira in the sprint race, had to give up in the main race on Sunday and flew home without a single point instead of the desired podium. place, it’s bad enough.
«I always try to give everything. On Sunday morning I walked around three times and thought I was going to die of pain. I asked race doctor Charte for everything he could give me and the truth is that I didn’t have any pain during the race,” Espargaró said. “But the injury meant that all the nerves were extremely inflamed, the tissue was full of blood and I couldn’t. “I had feeling in my leg. I had no strength, I couldn’t go up or down. That’s why I had to stop.”
In addition to the leg injury, which will surely make the end of the season in Valencia difficult for him and possibly even prevent him from participating, Espargaró is also fighting with Franco Morbidelli.
In FP2 on Saturday afternoon there was a scene between the two in which Espargaró looked quite bad: After Morbidelli had reversed the gas due to the yellow flags and hindered Espargaró, Espargaró caught up with the official Yamaha of the Italian and hit Morbidelli on the helmet. , who later stated that he did not intend to hit Morbidelli, but only to push him.
“In my opinion, it is not fair that the stewards only evaluated the last five seconds of the incident. Morbidelli doesn’t respect anyone. In Sepang he even bothered his teammate. He did not receive any punishment. He also treated Marc Márquez like a dog when he got caught in his slipstream in Q1 in Malaysia. On Saturday he hindered me three times in Doha when I went out on the track. He prevented me from entering the track. But of course, I reacted badly, I’m sorry…”
The scene of the blow to the helmet not only earned Aleix a penalty of six places on the starting grid and a fine of 10,000 euros, but also a lot of headlines in which Espargaró once again came out badly. General tenor: With his experience, the 34-year-old Spaniard should have controlled himself better than exploding like that. An opinion with which Morbidelli also agreed. “I would like to know what you tell your children about this incident,” he verbally attacked Espargaró.
Upon hearing that, Aleix Espargaró exploded again. «If you only watch the last part of this episode, then I deserve the punishment. I also realize that I am now exposed to a wave of hatred,” explained the Aprilia factory rider. “At the same time, it’s all a bit unfair because Franco has been wandering around the tracks for a year and a half and getting in someone’s way at every race. That’s his behavior or his work ethic. I almost fell twice because of him and when I wanted to get back on the track he got in my way again. And then I lost my temper. Yes, I reacted badly, I’m sorry for my team and my family, but I think it’s not fair to only look at the last part of this story. What really pisses me off is that he mentioned my family and my children in his statements. He crossed a very sacred line for me! This chapter is not over yet. I am very angry.”
That his friend Jorge Martín also suffered a bitter disappointment in Qatar was of little consolation to Aleix. «After my task, I followed the race on the pit monitor. Jorge’s bike had zero acceleration, that could be seen with the naked eye without looking at the lap times. “He accelerated helplessly on the finish line because the traction control cut off a lot of engine power, which in turn had to do with the rear tire not working,” Espargaró explained. “I feel sorry for Jorge who lost so many points because he clearly didn’t. It was his fault. But he should be proud of what he has achieved this season, with more than 400 points in the championship. Furthermore, he still has a chance to win the title: in our head we automatically think that there are still 25 points to score, but with The Valencia sprint still has 37 left. It’s not over yet!
MotoGP Doha race results (11/19):
1. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, 22 laps in 41:43.654 min
2. Bagnaia, Ducati, + 2,734 sec.
3. Marini, Ducati, +4,408
4. Viñales, Aprilia, +4,488
5. Folder, KTM, +7,246
6. Álex Márquez, Ducati, +7,620
7. Quartararo, Yamaha, +7,828
8. Bastianini, Ducati, +8,239
9. Miller, KTM, +11,509
10. Martin, Ducati, +14,819
11. Marc Márquez, Honda, +14,964
12. Zarco, Ducati, +17,431
13. Bezzecchi, Ducati, +17,807
14. Mir, Honda, +18,673
15. Augusto Fernández, KTM, +21,455
16. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +21,474
17. Raúl Fernández, Aprilia, +22,142
18. Pol Espargaró, KTM, +27,194
19. Nakagami, Honda, +27,740
– Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 16 laps behind
– Lecuona, Honda, 1st lap not completed
MotoGP Sprint Doha results (18.11.):
1. Martin, Ducati, 11 laps in 20:52.634 min
2. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 0.391 sec.
3. Marini, Ducati, +2,875
4. Álex Márquez, Ducati, +3,370
5. Bagnaia, Ducati, +3,957
6. Viñales, Aprilia, +4,239
7. Folder, KTM, +5,761
8. Quartararo, Yamaha, +6,454
9. Augusto Fernández, KTM, +8,285
10. Zarco, Ducati, +8,314
11. Marc Márquez, Honda, +9,596
12. Miller, KTM, +10,173
13. Bezzecchi, Ducati, +10,646
14. Raúl Fernández, Aprilia, + 11,117
15. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +12,163
16. Pol Espargaró, KTM, +12,745
17. Lecuona, Honda, +19,285
18. Nakagami, Honda, +26,238
19. Mir, Honda, +28,446
20. Bastianini, Ducati, +35,553
– Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 10 laps behind
– Oliveira, Aprilia, 1st round not completed
MotoGP World Championship standings after 37 of 39 races:
1. Bagnaia, 437 points. 2. Martín 416. 3. Bezzecchi 326. 4. Binder 268. 5. Zarco 204. 6. Aleix Espargaró 198. 7. Marini 194. 8. Viñales 192. 9. Quartararo 167. Alex Márquez 165. 11. Miller 163. 12. Di Giannanantonio 134. 13. Morbidelli 93. 14. Marc Márquez 89. 15. Bastianini 84. 16. Oliveira 76. 17. Augusto Fernández 71. 18. Rins 54. 19. Nakagami 52. 20. Raúl Fernández 40. 21 Pedrosa 32. 22. Mir 26. 23. Pol Espargaró 13. 24. Savadori 9. 25. Folger 9. 26. Bradl 8. 27. Pirro 5. 28. Petrucci 5. 29. Crutchlow 3.
World Constructors Championship:
1. Ducati, 663 points (world champion). 2. KTM 348. 3. Aprilia 309. 4. Yamaha 187. 5. Honda 174.
Team World Cup:
1. Prima Pramac Racing, 620 points (world champion). 2. Ducati Lenovo Team 531. 3. Mooney VR46 Racing 520. 4. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 431. 5. Aprilia Racing 390. 6. Gresini Racing 299. 7. Monster Energy Yamaha 260. 8. CryptoDATA RNF 120. 9. Repsol Honda 115. 10. LCR Honda 112. 11. GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3, 93.