Aleix Espargaro has proven MotoGP riders do ‘sometimes’ check the replies on their social media posts and even clapback at trolls after he took exception to being referred to as ‘mediocre’ by one commenter.
Espargaro had shared he might look into becoming a professional cyclist when his MotoGP career ends, which didn’t exactly draw the adulation, emojis and race number hashtagging that he might have hoped for.
Instead, a Twitter user named ‘Froome es Dios’ piped up to say: “Why be mediocre in one sportwhen you can do it in two sports”. Ouch!
Mediocre? Piloto oficial de MotoGP los ultimos 7 años, 8vo del mundo este año, eso es ser mediocre? Por lo menos debes ser de los 3 mejores del mundo en tu trabajo no? Que lastima que existe gente como tu en las RRSS... https://t.co/kCW9ZsAKu4
— Aleix Espargaró (@AleixEspargaro) December 7, 2021
Undeterred, Espargaro didn’t let it lie and duly promoted it onto his profile feed, clapping back:
"Mediocre? I've been a works driver in an official team for seven years, and this year I'm eighth in the World Championship. Is that mediocre? Then you have to be among the top three in the world at least in your job, right? It's a shame that you have to deal with people like you on social media.”
To an extent ‘Froome es Dios’ does have a point. Remarkably, Espargaro is now one of the most experienced riders to have ever competed in MotoGP with 199 starts in the premier class to his name. That places him eighth on the all-time list, with Andrea Dovizioso now the only current racer with more (236).
However, in that time he has achieved just two podiums, though one did come in 2021 aboard the improved Aprilia RS-GP, Espargaro going on to enjoy his best season since 2014.
The opinions didn’t quite stop there though, with Espargaro getting support from other followers before saying it is a shame riders don’t get as much support for trolling on social media, using the example of gymnast Simone Biles being broadly supported when she pulled out of several Tokyo Olympics events citing a desire to protect her mental health (you might need Translate for this one)
No no q va, en realidad me divierten, con 32 años, la familia, el trabajo y la vida que he conseguido trabajando, crees q me afectan? Pero me entristece, luego todos a apoyar a Simon Biles y causas parecidas porque queda muy guai, pero hate todo el dia en RRSS... https://t.co/JGFqe095w5
— Aleix Espargaró (@AleixEspargaro) December 7, 2021
