Aleix Espargaró Villà
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Aleix Espargaró Villà

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Aleix Espargaró Villà (born 30 July 1989) is a former Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He was the 2004 FIM CEV 125cc International Champion and competed in the MotoGP class for Aprilia from 2017 until his retirement from Grand Prix racing at the end of the 2024 season. Following his retirement, he signed as a test rider for Honda Racing Corporation and joined the United States cycling team, Lidl-Trek.

Espargaró is the older brother of fellow MotoGP rider Pol Espargaró. The brothers competed against each other in Moto2 in 2011 and have both been in the MotoGP class since 2014.

Espargaró won the 2004 Spanish FIM CEV 125cc International Championship with one win and two podiums at Circuito del Jarama. His breakthrough in the MotoGP World Championship occurred during the 2014 season with Forward Yamaha. That year, he recorded his first-ever pole position at the Dutch TT at Assen during his 150th Grand Prix weekend. He finished the season 7th in the championship, highlighted by a second-place finish in Aragon.

In 2015, Espargaró moved to the factory Suzuki team. He secured the second pole position of his career at the Catalonian GP, which was Suzuki's first pole since 2007, and finished the season 11th with 105 points. He remained with Suzuki in 2016, achieving a fourth-place finish in Japan.

Espargaró switched to Aprilia Racing Team Gresini in 2017. The 2021 season marked a turning point as the Aprilia bike became more competitive. At Silverstone), Espargaró finished third, securing Aprilia's first podium in the MotoGP class. This was his second career MotoGP podium, coming nearly seven years after his first in 2014.

The 2022 season was his most successful in the premier class. At the Argentine Republic Grand Prix, Espargaró won from pole position, marking his first win in any Grand Prix class and the first MotoGP victory for Aprilia. He led the riders' championship for the first time and achieved four successive podiums during the European rounds. Although he mistook the last lap for the race finish at his home race in Barcelona—dropping from a podium position to 5th—he remained a title contender until late in the season. Espargaró finished 4th in the championship, his highest ever placing.

In 2023, Espargaró achieved race wins at Silverstone) and Barcelona. In the latter, he led teammate Maverick Viñales to the first-ever 1-2 finish for the factory Aprilia team. He ended the year 6th in the standings, despite suffering a fractured left fibula during the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race.

During the 2010 German GP, Espargaró sustained a fractured vertebra and a knee injury in an incident with Álvaro Bautista and Randy de Puniet. In 2017, he missed the Malaysian Grand Prix due to a fractured left arm, and in 2018, he missed the German Grand Prix following an injury in warm-up. During the 2022 season, a significant setback occurred at Motegi when incorrect bike settings forced him to start from the pitlane, resulting in a 16th-place finish.

On 23 May 2024, at the Catalan Grand Prix, Espargaró announced he would retire from regular competition at the end of the season. He won the sprint race that same weekend and took sprint podiums at Spielberg and Silverstone). He finished his final full-time season 11th in the world championship and was replaced at Aprilia by Jorge Martín for 2025.

On 2 July 2024, Espargaró and Honda announced his role as a test rider starting in 2025. During the 2024 season, he made wildcard appearances at the Spanish and British Grands Prix. Midway through the year, he was slated to replace Somkiat Chantra at LCR Honda Idemitsu for the Hungarian GP, but he was unable to compete after suffering a cycling injury a few days before the event.

Espargaró transitioned to professional cycling with the Lidl-Trek team, scheduled to debut at the 2025 Tour of Austria. Before fully committing to cycling, he returned to the MotoGP circuit for a wildcard appearance with Honda at the 2025 Dutch GP at Assen, where he finished 16th.

Espargaró married Laura Montero on 23 August 2014, in Barcelona, after dating for eight years. They have twins, Mia and Max, born in 2018. He is a supporter of FC Barcelona and a fan of former player Bojan. Additionally, he owns restaurants in Andorra and is a fan of Japanese cuisine.

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