MotoGP, Espargaro: "What a sight to see Bagnaia and Martin in action."

Only 16th on the grid and 12th at the finish line, Aleix Espargaro said he was satisfied with his Malaysian Saturday, especially in light of the technical difficulties he encountered yesterday.

"I'm very happy. With the first tire, I scored a very good 1'58"1, so I knew I could improve and move onto yhe Q2 in spite of the problems I encountered on Friday with the fuel pump breaking. It was the same in the Sprint. I was also able to overtake the two Aprilias, the Hondas and, then, thanks to a good pace, I reached the three KTMs, which was my goal. But then I couldn't overtake Rins because, when it starts to get too hot, our bike doesn't work. In any case, I'm happy with the pace and the race we had," he said at the end of the day.

By now, with the look of a former rider being on the tail end of his MotoGP adventure, the rider from the Noale team acknowledged the value of his colleagues. "You just have to applaud Bagnaia and Martin because few times have I seen such a big difference in qualifying as I did today. I had a problem with the bike, so I followed from the garage, and it was spectacular," he said, admiringly.

As a fan of his fellow countryman, he then tried to analyze the head-to-head for the World Championship. "There are twenty-five points up for grabs tomorrow and, if Pecco gets them and not him, his lead will shorten. So you have to be calm. But it still amazes me to see them so focused and calm as opposed to last year. In the end, that's how they have to continue. With a rival like the Italian, you can't let your guard down. Bagnaia's fall at turn nine? There's a patch of asphalt and, in general, it's not in good condition. My arms are destroyed because of all the pebbles that hit you, so it's easy to end up on the ground."

Finally, a thought for Spain, which is suffering so much these days. "We don't really realize what's happening in Valencia. I'm there with my heart, and I'm very sad. It may seem unfair because it happens everywhere, but when these things touch you more closely, you feel the sorrow more. It would be nice to be able to help these people economically and humanely, by racing. In the end, we're with modern Roman gladiators. With Carmelo and Carlos Ezpeleta, we'll see what can be done," he concluded.