Aleix Espargaro feels his ‘job at Aprilia is done’ and he now wants to help Honda return to winning ways in MotoGP in his role as a test rider.
Espargaro has been a key pillar of Aprilia’s MotoGP programme since 2017 and widely hailed for transforming the RS-GP from a perennial backmarker to a multiple race-winning bike.
But instead of continuing his relationship with the Noale-based marque, which Autosport understands could have been difficult anyway due to financial reasons, the Spaniard has elected to join Honda’s expanded test team after he retires from racing. He will take the role alongside incumbent Stefan Bradl in 2025.
Unlike Aprilia, which remains the only manufacturer to beat Ducati to a grand prix victory this season, Honda is going through its worst-ever phase in premier class history with just 24 points on the board after the opening nine rounds.
But the 34-year-old believes he has achieved everything he wanted to achieve at his current job and is looking forward to taking his talent to HRC, where he can work on fixing the problematic RC213V.
“I don't know why I have the feeling that my job is done in Aprilia,” he said at the Sachsenring. “I did everything. I worked very, very hard during the eight seasons to help them to put them on top. My job is done.
“They have a good test rider with [Lorenzo] Savadori who is doing a great job. So it's also a good motivation for me and a good opportunity to join HRC.
“They are not in their best moment for sure. If I can help them to be back on top it will be fantastic.
He added: “I have been in talks with the top Japanese management and they really believe and trust in me. This is what made me decide to go because it's a really, really good opportunity.”
Espargaro reckons he will bring more than just his technical expertise to HRC, explaining that he can also play a crucial part in bringing a more positive atmosphere in the garage for race riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini.
“It's not just about technically where I will obviously try to raise the level of the bike, which I did for example with Aprilia, but I will also try to be a team player, trying to work with the riders, to be in the garage, to bring there the mood that I feel during these eight seasons in Aprilia,” he said.
“It's very, very important and they really need this also. They are missing everything.
“Imagine how difficult it is for a team as HRC that they were winning every single weekend and now they finish outside of the points [almost] every single weekend. So this is a shock, emotionally.
“For example Joan Mir is a world champion and now he is not able to finish races.”
Espargaro’s young brother Pol endured a tough two-year stint at the factory Honda team alongside six-time champion Marc Marquez in 2021-22 that effectively brought an early end to his MotoGP racing career.
But having spoken to the top management at Honda, the elder Espargaro is confident that the new philosophy employed by the Japanese marque in MotoGP means he won’t face the same issues in helping bring changes to the team.
“When Pol arrived there, they were winning the year before,” he said. “The last three, four seasons for Honda have not been easy mentally to understand what's going on.
“I think now they really understood that they have to change. They really trust me, the opportunity they gave to me is fantastic. I don't have to say, but it's the biggest brand of this paddock so they have to be back on top and fighting for the victories.”
