Catalunya MotoGP: Aleix Espargaro relishes ‘fairytale’ Sprint race triumph - ‘I have no words to describe it’

Aleix Espargaro said the last two days have felt “like a fairytale” after he claimed a thrilling home victory in a dramatic Sprint race at the Catalunya Grand Prix in Spain on Saturday.

On Friday, the 34-year-old announced his intention to retire at the end of the season, which means this weekend’s Catalunya GP - his home race - is expected to be his final one at the event.

Earlier on Saturday, Espargaro topped the qualifying charts to claim pole position ahead of Sunday’s race, before he backed up his impressive morning’s work with Sprint glory.

“Has been amazing the last two days, like a fairytale,” Espargaro said after the race. “I have no words to describe it. 

“The race was very tough, track was super slippery, I lost the front a couple of times. When I saw the lap times we were doing, I was completely sure it was impossible to finish with that pace. 

“In fact, people started to crash. I just tried to maintain the pace, maintain the rear tyre for the last laps. 

“Pecco [Bagnaia] was doing great as well, but he was risking, so my goal was to push him to the last corner and it worked. I’m very happy.”

Espargaro clinched the win on the final lap, with Pecco Bagnaia leading the field heading into the final moments.

But the Ducati Lenovo Team rider sensationally came off his bike in a blow to his hopes of defending his championship crown, leaving Espargaro to take advantage and storm to victory.

Bagnaia, who claimed seven wins last season, was left bemused by the incident and admitted he felt like he “was the fastest and was cruising” as the riders approached the finish line.

“I waited for one hour in the box to analyse everything,” he said, reflecting on the aftermath of the race. 

“When you can’t understand properly why you crashed it’s important to analyse everything. It looks like slower entry with the same amount of brakes can make you crash.

“Normally, in normal conditions, it can’t happen but here the grip level is a disaster so it can happen. We have to analyse it and understand it to be more careful of this situation for tomorrow.”

The Italian heads into Sunday’s race in fifth place in the overall standings, 30 points adrift of leader Jorge Martin.

“The race is longer, hotter and it is important to finish,” he added, looking ahead to the sixth race of the season.

“It’s now three races in a row where we were really strong for the Sprint race but we haven’t finished because of problems or crashing. 

“We lost another great opportunity today. I was the fastest, I was leading, I was cruising and it wasn’t enough. We have to take the positive from today, which is a lot. 

“But it will be important to finish. It looks like I have problems here finishing the races. But it will be important to do it.”

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