Aleix Espargaro was the youngest ever rider to win the 125cc Spanish National Championship when he claimed the title in 2004, before moving onto the world stage the year after. After taking his first World Championship podium in Moto2™ in 2011, 2012 saw Espargaro graduate to MotoGP™ and claim the title of Champion in the CRT category – before repeating the feat in 2013. Top “Open” rider the year after, and on the podium at MotorLand Aragon, Espargaro then joined the factory Suzuki team in 2015, hauling more points and a pole position at the Catalan GP.

In 2017, Espargaro moved to Aprilia Racing Team Gresini and took some top results for the Noale factory, including a best of sixth in both Qatar and Aragon. Progressively cutting the gap to the front, Espargaro remained with Aprilia in 2018 but it was off to a tough start before they made some big progress in the latter half of the year. Remaining with the team in 2019, Espargaro earned a best result of P7 on an unfavoured RS-GP, a result he couldn’t quite match during 2020, as despite being a consistent Top 10 challenger, he finished 17th overall in the Championship. He continued for a fifth season with Aprilia in 2021 and his hard work was rewarded with a much-improved RS-GP. He later became the Noale squad's history-maker by taking their debut MotoGP™ podium in Silverstone. 2022 would turn into a year he'll never forget, as Espargaro fought for the World Championship for the first time in his career. A career-first Grand Prix victory in Argentina kickstarted a season that included five further podium visits. A disappointing final five rounds saw the Spaniard slip out of title contention and the Championship top three, and in 2023, another title push never materialised. Still, two more wins came at Silverstone and on home turf in Barcelona, but a more consistent season is needed for Espargaro and Aprilia in 2024.