A fractured heel disrupts Aleix Espargaró's MotoGP title bid

Aleix Espargaró arrived with his batteries charged at the British GP after a long summer for the members of the MotoGP World Championship.

He wanted to take advantage of the suspension of Fabio Quartararo, leader of the championship, and the good moment of Aprilia to continue cutting points from the Frenchman.

A hard crash in the last practice session on Saturday, however, sent his plans to hell.

This Monday, what seemed like just a major scare turned into a major setback for his title assault plan: fracture of the right heel and seven days of absolute rest without being able to support the leg at least.

The new diagnosis came this afternoon after an in-depth review at the Dexeus University Hospital in Barcelona.

Both on Saturday and Sunday, the driver from Granollers starred in a commendable performance to save the furniture and stay within range of the reigning world champion.

Unable to walk on his own and barely an hour after shooting off at 170 km/h and violently impacting the asphalt, Aleix managed to break the previous track record during the qualifying round.

His effort earned him sixth place on the grid and he finished the day applauded by the team's mechanics when he arrived at the garage.

The next day, with a lot of cold blood and a good dose of anti-inflammatories, he managed to finish the race in ninth position, just behind Quartararo.

“Now I feel pain everywhere.

The feet are better than on Saturday, I can walk.

But I have a lot of pain in my legs, in my neck, in my back”, she reviewed at the end of the race.

“I think we will have a very tight last eight races heading into the championship.”

Aleix Espargaró is helped by members of his team during the British Grand Prix last weekend. AFP7 via Europa Press (AFP7 via Europa Press)

Despite the bad news, the positive side for the second-place finisher – 22 points behind the leader – is that he will not have to undergo surgery to heal his injured foot.

To avoid supporting him, he will have to use crutches throughout the week.

After leaving on a stretcher after his crash in FP4, the result is the best in a complicated scenario at this stage of the championship.

His effort during a race in which he seemed to have the pace to win, before the crash, allowed him to remain the only rider to have finished in the points in the twelve races held this year.

“It's a shame because I couldn't overtake, I couldn't be aggressive, I couldn't gain positions”, analyzed the Catalan, very ambitious despite the circumstances.

On the last lap, he even threw the bike at Quartararo to try to scratch him another point on the board:

“It wasn't a question of points, it was a question of finishing in front.

I tried, but unfortunately today I missed a good opportunity to close the gap.”

Espargaró's goal is to reach the Austrian GP on August 21 in the best possible physical condition.

He will try, if his body allows it, to stay hooked on the fight for a title that no one would have imagined a year ago today, when he himself gave Aprilia its first podium since the brand's return to the premier class in 2015.

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