Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro posts pictures of road bike training and makes himself vulnerable: The incident is reported to officials in Malaysia
MotoGP kicks off the 2022 season this week at the official Sepang test, but due to the omicron wave, the test in Malaysia is only possible with special regulations. One of these regulations states that riders can only stay in certain hotels after arrival and cannot move freely around the country. But one driver violated this regulation.
Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro posted a photo of his road bike training on Thursday. The Spaniard shared with his followers on Instagram that he was riding near Putrajaya. This location is 20 kilometres away from the permitted hotel zone.
The Sepang International Circuit officials reported the incident to the FIM motorbike world governing body. Espargaro was not named in an email, but the offence was clearly attributable to him. which applies to the entire test.
Unlike the regular riders from Yamaha, Ducati, Suzuki, Honda and KTM, the Aprilia riders were already able to take part in the shakedown test. Aprilia is the only one of the six MotoGP manufacturers that still enjoys the concession benefits and therefore has no testing restrictions.
Aleix Espargaro and teammate Maverick Vinales therefore travelled earlier than the top riders. Espargaro did some laps with his Aprilia RS-GP on Wednesday (see test report). The passionate racing cyclist used the break until the start of the official test for a training session, which caused trouble behind the scenes.
According to the current status, Espargaro does not have to fear any penalties. The Spaniard apologised and promised to abide by the rule from now on. On Saturday and Sunday, the former CRT and Open champion has to concentrate on riding his MotoGP Aprilia anyway.
After the two days of testing in Malaysia, MotoGP will travel on to the new circuit in Indonesia for three days of racing. The season kicks off on 6 March in Qatar.
