Last year, Pol Espargaró had a serious crash during practice at the MotoGP Portuguese GP – while not life-threatening, it sidelined him for several months with severe injuries.
Aleix Espargaró, Pol’s brother, witnessed his recovery up close, and now, as he approaches the end of his own racing career, he admits this incident heavily influenced his decision to retire.
In an interview with AS, Aleix reflected on Pol’s recovery as one of the best moments in his career: ‘I saw my brother in a very bad state, really bad, and seeing him recover, seeing him return to normal, affected me a lot. In fact, I think my brother’s accident hastened a bit my retirement’.
It’s worth noting that Pol Espargaró ended his full-time racing career last season and is now a test rider. He has since participated in two wildcard races with Red Bull KTM. Meanwhile, Aleix will complete his racing career at the end of this season and transition to a test rider role for Honda.