Aleix Espargaro said he was shocked because he was surprised to see the terrible condition of Honda in MotoGP. It is for this reason that he decided to become a test rider for the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) starting in 2025. He is determined to bring the atmosphere he has created at Aprilia Racing to the Single Wing manufacturer.

Espargaro, who is known to be skilled at developing MotoGP motorbikes, joined Aprilia in 2017. Under his direction, Aprilia has slowly become one of the manufacturers that is now able to pose a threat to Ducati. He was even nicknamed ‘Il Capitano’ by the Aprilia crew thanks to his leadership spirit.

This 34 year old racer has decided to retire at the end of the season. However, he still wants to be involved in MotoGP. He was also courted by HRC to become a test rider, considering that they were in a slump. Via GPOne on Thursday (4/7/2024), Espargaro also admitted that he agreed to join because of the interesting challenges.

Honda Needs Aprilia Atmosphere

Espargaro is confident that his wealth of experience, coupled with his strong character, will help HRC rise. “I joined because this is a good opportunity and I am proud to join HRC. I spoke with the top management in Japan and they believe in me, and that made me decide to say ‘yes’,” he said.

“It’s not just about the technical side, but also because I want to be part of their team, work with their riders and bring the attitude that I gave to Aprilia for eight years. I think they need it,” said Espargaro.

Espargaro also admitted that he believes HRC is lagging behind in all aspects compared to other manufacturers. Seeing Honda riders struggling to get into the top 15 also made the Spanish rider very surprised. Even a two-time world champion of Joan Mir’s caliber had difficulty taming the RC213V.

Used to Win, Now It’s Hard to Get Points

“They are behind in everything. They are a team that is used to winning every weekend, and now they are not even in the points zone. It’s a shock. For example, Mir is world champion, and now he can’t even finish. I can help them not only on the technical side, but also bring the Aprilia atmosphere,” said Espargaro.

Espargaro also learned from the experience of his younger brother, Pol Espargaro, who defended Repsol Honda in 2021-2022. Even so, his younger brother’s experience cannot be used as an accurate benchmark. The reason is, two years before ‘Polyccio’ joined, Honda won the world title with Marc Marquez.

“When Pol came to Honda, they won the world title the year before. For the last 3-4 seasons, it was not easy for them to understand what happened. Now, they have to find out what to change,” concluded the rider who has also defended Pramac Ducati, Aprilia CRT, Forward Yamaha, and Suzuki.