Aleix Espargaro says that he aspires to be “competitive” in his final race with Aprilia before his retirement from MotoGP.
Espargaro announced his retirement in Barcelona earlier in the season, bringing his 20-year Grand Prix racing career to an end after this weekend’s Solidarity GP.
Espargaro, a native of Catalonia, was born mere kilometres away from the circuit, and the Aprilia rider will now have one final home race before heading to Honda to become its test and development rider in 2025.
Espargaro believes Aprilia should be in the podium fight in his final MotoGP race because they have “won three of the last four races at the track”, including the Sprint back in May.
“Barcelona is my home track, I like it a lot and it suits both me and the Aprilia well,” said Espargaro via Crash.net.
“We have achieved fantastic results here. We won three of the last four races and we also hold the track record.
“These are all signs which indicate that we can battle to stay out front.
“I would very much like to finish my last race with Aprilia competitively, with sights set on the podium.
“I’ll try to stay fully focused from the very first session and we’ll do our best to take home a good result.”
Aprilia team director Massimo Rivola believes that it will be “special” for Espargaro to finish his career at his home track given the recent success he has had in Barcelona.
“It will be special to see Aleix finish his Aprilia career at his home track in Montmeló, where he took pole position, and a sprint win this year,” Rivola said.
Maverick Vinales: ‘very motivated’ to finish Aprilia MotoGP career on a high
It’s not just Espargaro who is leaving Aprilia, as teammate Maverick Vinales also prepares for his farewell after three and a half years with the team.
Vinales joined the team after his dramatic exit from Yamaha in 2021 and became the first rider in the MotoGP era to win on three different manufacturers after his win in Austin earlier this year.
Vinales remains the only non-Ducati rider to win this season and insists he is “always very motivated” when he visits Barcelona.
“Montmeló is a track I love to race on, it’s very close to home and it’s my home GP,” Vinales said.
“When I’m there I’m always very motivated. The weather will be unpredictable, with low temperatures.
“It will be a very special weekend, we’ll be racing for Valencia and it will also be my last race with Aprilia, so I’ll give it my all.”
