It was Espargaro and Aprilia’s second♈-ever premier-class victory, following a debut win in Argentina last season.

Fastest on Friday, Espargaro dropped to twelfth and last in the wet Qualifying 2 and then finished fifth in the Sprint, prompting his son Max to worry he ♎might not be able to see his Dad on TV during the Sunday race.

“When I arrived in⛦ parc ferme and I saw the kids, it was fantastic because it’s the first victory with them [at the track],” Esꦑpargaro said.

“This morning Max said to me, ‘Daddy, please try to be in the front group, because if you are not in the front gr꧑oup, I can't s🤡ee you on the TV’.

“I said to him, ‘I don't k💝now if I will be 🐷able to win or not, but I think I have pace enough to be in the front group. So no worries, son. You will see your Daddy...’”

Espargaro climbed to sixth place by the end of the opening lap, was behind only Francesco Bagnaia by lap 6 of 20, then snatched victory from th⛎e reigning world champion - with rain spots falling - with just a few corners to go.

Espargaro: “At 34, I’m riding better than ever”

Espargaro is the oldest rider on the MotoGP grid. After battling for the world championship until the penultimate round of last season, Espargaro 🅺had taken only one 2023 podium prior to Silverstone♋.

But moments such as Friday, when Espargaro was fastest by a mඣassive 0.671s, and the Sunday w🅘in ‘motivate me to keep going’.

“What makes me very happy also is what I 😼did on Friday🌸 to be super fast. What I did also in other Fridays this year in some sessions in dry. I feel that I’m in a very, very high level of riding,” said Espargaro

“This is the most important thing. Win, yes, it’s fantastic. I’m very happy about the victory, for sure. But I think that I was able to fight for the victories this year in other circuits. This is what makes me very, very happy an♏d motivates me to keep going.

“It’s quite strange my situation because I turned 34 years old la💖st week, and I feel that I’m riding better than ever. So, hopefully I can extend this feeling for a coupleﷺ of more seasons.”

Espargaro is now up to sixth in the world champion𓃲ship.