Aleix Espargaro's good start to 2021 continues as he wᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚas a name that routinely appeared at the sharp end of Friday’s Spanish MotoGP Grand Prix free practice sessions. 

The Aprilia rider finished third overall, only 💟behind Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo - top two riders in the championship. 

It wasn’t just over one laꦗp that Espargaro was quick either, as he was one of a very select few that could maintain race pace in the 1m 37s. 

"I’m satis🍌fied about day-one. The good thing is it looks like Aprilia and Aleix are working well everywhere we are going. It’s not just about one single track," said the 31 year-old. 

"From lap 1 - lap 2 in FP1 - I felt ver𝐆y strong and comfortable with the bike. With the race tyre I felt I can maintain a re🎶ally high pace. 

"Overall satisfied. The track is still a bit slippery. All riders will put more rubber on track🥂 so tomorrow could change. Why not? I feel good so let’s ꦆwait and see.  

"The goal is to improv🗹e a bit. Try to start the race and 💙go away from everybody! (Laughs)."

Along with Franco Morbidelli, FP2 seemed to suggest the pair were the stronge⭕st regarding race pace, however Fabio Quart👍araro, Francesco Bagnaia, and Takaaki Nakagami were others who looked particularly impressive as well. 

Espargaro does expect the field to get closer during today’s second day, saying: "Three tenths will cover everybody in FP3. But apaꦓrt from one hot lap I think we have good pace. 

"I wa🔜s a bit shocked, we had more than 10 laps in the tyre and I was able to do a very quick lap. This will 🐷give me motivation for the race. 

"Especially the Yamahas and maybe the Suzukis will get closer tomorrow. But it’s difficult to go a🌌 l𝔉ot faster than 37s on the race pace." 

While Espargaro was one of the quickest throꦯughout both sessions, the Spaniard seemed to lose time to a few riders in sector two during FP1. 

But after having his trackside man Matteo Baiocco give fe♔edback between sesꦅsions, it was a difficult area that was then turned into a strength come the afternoon. 

"This morning after the first session where I lost more time was sector 2. We had our track guy – Matteo Baiocco there – and he gave me some very goo𝔉d tips and information. In the second session I finished top three in the second split," added Espargaro. 

"There I was stronger. I improved a lot from FP1 to FP2. Unfortunatel💯y with the soft tyre I didn’t put everything together. 

"I got traffic and made mistakes. In any case I’m fast in every split. If to♏morrow we are able to put everything together, maybe we can challenge Bagnaia who is very fast on one hot lap for the first position."