Forward rocket Escrig: “I’m sorry we didn’t achieve more”

Forward rider Alex Escrig has 85 World Championship points to his name in Moto2. “It should be double that,” said the tall Spaniard from Valencia. In the second race in Brazil, his compatriot Manuel Gonzalez snatched third place from him. Then, at Silverstone, he finally secured his first podium finish – and also the first for Forward Racing, a team long regarded as a complete underdog.

But things got even better. In Indonesia, he started the race from second on the front row and was in the lead until two laps from the end, when his engine cut out. The fuel pump had given up the ghost. “There were other races where we lost points, partly due to minor issues,” explained Escrig, who is now in his fourth season with the chassis developed by Forward. In Qatar, he achieved further milestones with his first pole position and another podium finish.

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When did you manage to understand the bike and set it up so that you could compete right at the front of the field? You were already fast before that, after all.
Alex Escrig: “We’ve been working on this project for four years now, and it was also about understanding what we needed to change or improve until we reached this goal. It was a series of small steps that allowed us to get the chassis and the performance up to this level. Even last year’s model was better than the 2024 version. With this specification, I was quick right from the start in the first winter tests because I was immediately familiar with it and felt comfortable on it. In fact, I managed to beat the lap record straight away during the first tests in Jerez. In other words, unlike last year, we already had a package that worked well and was competitive in all areas right from the start of the season.”

Escrig is convinced – there could have been even more

Don’t you regret leaving the team at the end of the season, now that things are going so well?
“Well, now that we’ve managed to develop a motorbike that’s good enough to win, I’d certainly like to rewind time to show that even more would have been possible this year. Not just in individual races, but in the championship as a whole. Seen in that light, I do regret that we didn’t manage to realise our full potential.”

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Do you have a favourite track?
“Not really, because a track is a track. Of course, there are tracks like Mugello, for example, where I was faster than I’d expected. Or Le Mans, where I couldn’t get up to the speed I wanted.”

Isn’t your height (he is 184 cm tall) a disadvantage on the straights, where you have to crouch down so low?
“I don’t see my height as a disadvantage, more so my weight. Races aren’t decided on the straights, otherwise the light and small riders would have to win everything, and that’s not how it is.”

In the remaining races at Portimão and Valencia, Pedro Acosta’s ‘Buddy’ – who, at 22, is the same age as the lanky rider – could still climb to 10th place in the World Championship standings – he is 12 points behind Dani Muñoz – his future team-mate.