Espargaro to Marquez: “If Honda don’t give him a good bike…” | “I have weapons”

Espargaro, after mounting somewhat of a MotoGP title threat in the early stages of last season, eventually fell away but the preseason test in Sepang went positively for Aprilia who hope to rebound.

Marquez, meanwhile, remains limited by his Repsol Honda bike’s issues ahead of a season where he could match Valentino Rossi’s seven premier class championships.

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“For me, Marc is the most talented rider I’ve raced with,” Espargaro told Manuel Pecino. “Now, however, there is a great levelling between the bikes and also the level of riders is very high. 

“Before there were four or five riders in front of everyone. Even getting into the top 10 has become difficult.

“If Honda do not give him a good bike, it will be difficult for Marquez to fight. Aprilia and Ducati are doing an incredible job. There is a theme that the Italian brands are educated to a high level, what is happening with the Japanese brands is strange."

Francesco Bagnaia’s title reign will inevitably be challenged by Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, and probably also his own factory Ducati teammate Enea Bastianini.

Pramac’s Jorge Martin will fancy his chances and KTM hope their new duo of Jack Miller and Brad Binder can fight at the front regularly.

“There are many strong Ducatis and practically no rookies,” said Espargaro. “So there are a dozen riders who can win the championship.

“Will it reward regularity a lot because there are more races or can you risk more because there are more chances to recover points? It’s not an easy question.

“The goal is the title. But I have no pressure and I am relaxed.

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“I know I have the weapons and the experience that I didn’t have at the beginning of last year.

“I have matured as a rider so I feel calm.

“In the past two years, not only I have learned a lot, but the whole of Aprilia has.”

Aprilia race manager Paolo Bonora emerged from Sepang warning that their RS-GP will profit from a new engine at the Portimao test, turning into the machine most likely to threaten the Desmosedici.

“We are trying to prepare as best we can, but we will only find out in Portimao what will happen,” Espargaro, who finished fourth in the MotoGP standings in 2022, said.

“The positive thing is that nobody liked FP3! But now Saturday will be stressful.

“When the riders said we weren’t convinced by Sprint races it isn’t because we don’t like racing. But 42 starts in MotoGP is dangerous.

“It would have been better to try five Sprint races - but I don’t organise the championship.”