Aleix Espargaro has weighed in on rumours that brother Pol could switch to the factory Honda MotoGP outfit for 2021, with the Spaniard reckoning it’ll be “difficult” to say no.
Pol Espargaro has been linked recently to a surprise switch to the Repsol Honda team, despite new signing Alex Marquez having yet turned a wheel in anger on a race weekend.
The KTM man has worked hard to develop the manufacturer’s RC16 machine over the past few campaigns, the relationship looking to make good ground across ’19 in particular, while Espargaro was positive about the new ‘20 developments to the bike following pre-season testing.
Speaking to Spanish TV channel TeleDeporte, the Aprilia racer likened Honda’s reported interest in his brother to Ferrari coming calling in Formula 1, but is wary of how much Honda would value him relative to current employer KTM.
“KTM is pushing hard because they value him a lot,” said Aleix.
“They want him to stay, but I don’t know to what extent Honda is going to love or not love my brother.
“But, in the end, when Ferrari calls you, for example, it is very difficult to say no to Ferrari.
“We will see, I think Repsol Honda is the dream team in the history of the MotoGP World Championship and if you have that option, it will not be easy to say no to them.
“My obsession is to get Aprilia to the top.”
Aleix recently signed a further two-year contract extension with Aprilia, and reiterated his desire to claim his and the Italian marque’s first premier class victory, citing Andrea Dovizioso and Ducati’s long-term relationship as his main motivation to keep working with the RS-GP.
“The winter tests were amazing,” said Aleix.
“So I think it was the right thing to do, to keep going with Aprilia. I’ve always said that Ducati and (Andrea) Dovizioso were very good examples for me because the continuity they had has allowed them to fight for the championship in the last seasons, so this is something I’m going to try and achieve with Aprilia.”
Espargaro was buoyant on his chances for success with the newly developed RS-GP, calling the upgraded machine “unbelievable”, which he believes has given him the boost he felt he needed to fight for podiums and victories in the future.
“The 2020 bike was from the beginning unbelievable, much better than the previous Aprilia’s I have rode, and obviously this has given me a boost of confidence to the project.
“The arrival of Massimo RIvola has moved things on alot, new engineers have joined to help Massimo and I think this is just the beginning. I’m very confident.”
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