Fermin Aldeguer is the rider of the moment. After a start of the season aimed entirely at learning the secrets of MotoGP and his Ducati and therefore with many ups and downs, in Le Mans, on the magical Sunday of Zarco and Honda, he obtained an exhilarating as much as unexpected third place.
"If someone had told me at the beginning of the year that at my sixth GP in the premier class I would be on the podium, I wouldn't have believed it," he confessed to Motorsport.com's Spanish-language podcast.
And as the appetite comes with eating, fresh from this exhilarating result, the talented Gresini Racing rider made no secret of the fact that he has ambitious plans for the future. "The goal for any rookie racing for a satellite team is to be promoted to an official team, and my luck is that my contract is tied to Ducati. In this championship I am getting a bike that is more or less the same as Bagnaia and Marquez. Given my age and this kind of agreement, I am ahead of the others," he confessed.
The liaison with Borgo Panigale is expected to be a long one. "For now the collaboration should last four years with an option for two more. If I do well I should get on the official Desmosedici in 2027. That's the plan, then we'll see," he explained.
Also helping him learn the ropes is his pit neighbor Alex Marquez. "He opened the door for me in an incredible way. I expected it knowing the person, but he is doing even more. On one occasion he changed his mind at the last minute about which tyre to mount and came to tell me while still half undressed to reassure me that he hadn't given me a wrong direction earlier to screw me over," he revealed.
Encouraged by a top 3 finish that came in complex conditions and ahead of the forecast, looking ahead to the Silverstone round he argued with a certain maturity: "I'm coming to it more motivated, however, you don't live in the past. If the race had been held in the dry I would have been there all the same as I had shown in the Sprint, but Bagnaia would have done something better and so would my teammate who crashed. Rain is expected on Sunday? It would be great to become the youngest race winner in the top category."
Dreams aside, the Murcian talent soon viewed his goals in a more concrete perspective: "I aim to enter Q2 right away and then finish the races in the top ten. A duel with Alex? He's fighting for the title, I'm learning, so I don't think it's time yet. Compared to me he has more experience and pace, at least a couple of tenths that have made a difference lately. Once he finishes his apprenticeship I will be able to battle with him. In France he wasn't as comfortable as usual, I, on the other hand, felt good right away, but the English track favors his riding style, so as a result I will watch carefully what he does."
For the Spaniard, it is clear what is missing to be a more complete and incisive rider. "I need to improve in corner entry, in speed in fast corners, in exit and in lifting up the bike so I can make the most of the Ducati's potential. Some progress I've made, but there's still a little bit missing. Marc's telemetry? I look at it, from everyone you can learn. Bagnaia's? He's third in the World Championship, but I don't pay much attention to his data because I've often been ahead of him in practice and I prefer to look at who's in front of me," was his final comment.