Aleix Espargaro says he wants to be remembered as someone “who never gave up” after his retirement from MotoGP following the SolidarityGP.
Espargaro concluded his full-time racing career with a fifth place at his home race in Barcelona after 20 years in the grand prix paddock, which saw him take three race wins for Aprilia.
The Spanish rider will now join Honda as part of its test and development team but is yet to commit to any wildcards as part of his new role.
Espargaro admitted that he had felt during his career that he “had less talent than” his teammates but that “hard work beats talent”.
“There is a sentence that many people use, that hard work beats talent,” Espargaro said via Crash.net.
“And I truly believe that this is true. I always felt during my career that I had less talent than many of my mates.
“But by working very hard, putting in all the effort, using all the resources of my team, all the people around, having a good team around me, being smart, working hard definitely, you can do what you want.
“I would like to be remembered as one who never gave up.”
After the last race in Barcelona, Espargaro admitted he “didn’t want to race anymore”, though he said he will miss his Aprilia team.
“I have really low tension – after the chequered flag I had a big relief.
“Obviously, I will miss Aprilia a lot and my RS-GP a lot, but I didn’t want to race anymore.
“So, I have a big relief. I’m very happy, very proud of this little kid when I arrived, what I’ve achieved, the family that I make.
“I think there is a new chapter in life. Enough is enough.
“I think in life it’s very important to understand the timings and I’m very lucky to be able to say goodbye like this.”
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