If there is one circuit where KTM did not in the least expect to achieve its best qualifying, it is the Austin track. Before approaching it, the men from Mattighofen proclaimed to anyone who would listen that they feared more than anything this Grand Prix of the Americas which had never offered them any satisfaction or encouragement. Pol Espargaro was even already planning on Jerez with the new features expected for its RC16. And here he is fifth on the Texan starting grid. Unheard of for orange shirts. After the Valencia podium, the Spaniard continues to write history KTM in MotoGP…
Fifth time and second row of a Grand Prix for a KTM in MotoGP, that's it! Pol Espargaró only returned 0.685 seconds compared to the best time of Marc Márquez, who won the seventh pole for his seventh visit to Texas. He is ahead of the Aprilias, he dominates the Ducatis of Petrucci and Dovizioso and grills the politeness of the Yamaha of Casa Particular in Viñales just like the Suzuki of Kidneys. Sorry!
Faced with such a result, the demanding Pete Beirer can only bow…” Pol was competitive in every practice session here and he was successful in qualifying. This fifth place on the grid makes us super happy. Because this MotoGP project requires a lot of work, it arouses a lot of emotion. And of course we had respect for this track because we had a lot of difficulties here in 2018. The fact that we got our best qualifying result on this track is sensational. My thanks go to the team, because a lot of people did a lot of things, otherwise this result would not have been possible ».
Celebrations for KTM! 🔶@polespargaro will start an outstanding 5th on the grid! 👍#AmericasGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/laAj6nFaGf
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 13, 2019
He adds : " If our bike works in Austin, the next tracks should at least give us decent results. We succeeded without climatic whims or other circumstances but on a regular basis. But unfortunately we have only succeeded so far on one side of the box ».
A conclusion which aims Johann zarco who remained stuck in Q1 with 19th place on the starting grid. “ We haven't solved everything yet. We have Pol at the top now. When you have such a benchmark, it's easier to progress. With Johann, we sometimes see the light and think we've given him something that's better, and then comes the step back. With him, we're just not on the basis we want. He wants to set up his bike in a different way than what we recommend. We must move towards each other. We definitely need to develop the bike to suit him best. And he must adapt his riding style to the bike ».
He finishes : " but now we have a fifth place in qualifying in our pocket. And we'll take care of the rest tomorrow, Sunday ».
