Aleix Espargaró has made headlines in the Spanish press recently for allegedly criticizing Jack Miller’s continued presence in MotoGP, supposedly calling it unfair. However, the Aprilia rider denied making any such statements.
The Spaniard began: ‘They put in my mouth that I said that it’s ridiculous that Jack gets a bike and I’ve never said that. I know the clickbait and I know how the Spanish press is, it’s nothing new’.
Then, Espargaró explained: ‘What I said is, talking about myself, when I felt that I wouldn’t be competitive anymore, that other teammates with the same bikes are beating me constantly, I would go away. This is the way how I felt. And I said that I was very happy that Trackhouse is signing [Ai] Ogura, because he’s a young guy, I think they need to give them opportunities. And I said that this year I felt I’m not 100% committed, I don’t have the desire to go racing like I had in the past, this is why I decided to stop. This is what I said; I never said that is unfair that Jack gets a bike’.
While Espargaró believes that young Moto2 riders deserve a chance to move up to MotoGP, he assured that he has nothing against the current riders staying: ‘I think Jack loves the bikes more than me, so if somebody wants to give him a bike is OK. But I said that for me is not good to block the young riders, because you see Sergio García, or [Tony] Arbolino, I think they deserve a bike. But it’s nothing against Jack, Franco [Morbidelli], we can say also Miguel [Oliveira] – because he is two years with the same bike than me and you have the results there. But it’s the way that I feel, but I never said that headline, «Jack Miller doesn’t deserve a bike»’.