Aleix: I don’t think 2024 is my last year in MotoGP

Aleix Espargaro might be the oldest rider on the MotoGP grid and has never hidden his opposition to the ever-increasing calendar, but that doesn’t mean he intends to bow out at the end of 2024.

Peter McLaren

21 Dec 2023

Aleix Espargaro, MotoGP race, Qatar MotoGP, 19 November

Like most factory riders, Espargaro’s current two-year Aprilia contract expires at the end of next season.

But the 34-year-old has continued to outperform all of his Aprilia team-mates since arriving from Suzuki in 2017, including taking all three wins for the RS-GP.

And if such speed continues, so will he.

“No, I don’t think that next year is going to be my last one,” Espargaro said.

“I’m enjoying my life a lot, apart from the episode [with Morbidelli] in Qatar.

“So if I’m fast, I think I will race a little bit longer.

“But I don’t like the [race weekend] schedule and I don’t like the calendar. This is how I feel.

“I understand the position of the organisers [and] they can put 45 races if they want… But where is the limit?”

After two seasons of 20 rounds, MotoGP is set for another new record of 22 events next year, which means 44 races with the inclusion of the Saturday Sprints.

Maverick Vinales has been team-mate to Espargaro for the past two and a half seasons and finished just two points behind his fellow Spaniard in a battle for sixth in this year’s standings.