Aleix Espargaro said he was ‘shocked’ by Francesco Bagnaia’s early pace in the MotoGP Sprint race at Catalunya in Barcelona before eventually going on to claim a comfortable victory.
It was the Aprilia Racing rider’s first Sprint success, with Espargaro pulling away from reigning champion Bagnaia after making a decisive overtake on the brakes at the beginning of lap seven of 12.
He went on to win by just under two seconds, but Espargaro – a winner at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last month – conceded he was left feeling ‘angry’ after being beaten to pole by factory Ducati rider Bagnaia, with the 34-year-old having topped the times on Friday on the RS-GP23.
“I’m very, very happy and it has been a very special feeling when I crossed the chequered flag, even if it’s just a Sprint,” he said.
“But this morning it was a bit bitter because I finished second [in qualifying], which is great for the two races, but I felt a little bit like I lost, you know.
“I gave everything, but Pecco was better, [he] was amazing, lap record [for pole]. I was a bit angry, so I started with a big commitment in the Sprint race.
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“I was a bit shocked at the beginning on the first two laps because the level that Pecco proposed was very high.
“The 1m 39-low was a very high pace, it was not my plan to go at this pace. So, when he started to push like this I said to myself, ‘Ok, let’s play, let’s see who can go faster, who destroys the rear tyre [first], and yes, I won today.”
Espargaro managed to out-do Bagnaia in a straight fight on the brakes into Turn 1 to hit the front, something he admits is never easy against the tough-to-pass Italian.
“I felt like I was better in the mid-corner, I was able to rush a little bit more than him and also in the traction,” he said.
“But to stop the bike, he’s the king. We saw in Austria he’s very difficult to overtake; he’s very good to stop the bike.
“But today I had the feeling I was strong and I never in my career won with advantage, the two times that I won I overtook in the last part of the race.
“So, today I said to myself to try, there are not many occasions like this one. I tried to pass him, it was difficult.
“I started to brake super late in the first corner and I was having front locking, and I was not able to turn because he pushed me to brake really, really late.
“So, happy to make it and I had really good pace.”
Espargaro is now feeling confident he can repeat the feat in Sunday’s main race as he bids for a dream double at his home Grand Prix.
“Now it’s time to enjoy because I think that the small joys like today give you positive energy, so let’s try to enjoy today with the team,” he said.
“Tomorrow I think is going to be different; are we going to race with the rear medium? It’s going to be more tactical, also the front tyre is a little bit in the limit for the long race.
“But in any case we have good pace, the bike works excellent here in Barcelona, so let’s see.”
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