Pol Espargaro arrived at Mugello with the good impression of a sixth place acquired at the end of the French Grand Prix. An illusion ? We had to be clear about it from the next stage in Mugello. And the verdict fell on the first day of Italian Grand Prix. The Spaniard and his KTM finish their Friday fourth…
Pol Espargaro is in great shape. This Friday, he gave the lesson to Casa Particular in Viñales et Márquez taking fourth time. And in the images, see his RC16 swallow up the Yamaha of Valentino Rossi was enough to make the workers of Mattighofen jump for joy.
The Spaniard is delighted that the new equipment is so effective on a track as fast as Mugello, and he is relishing his home meeting in Catalonia which will only be in two weeks. “ I just did a lap in 1'46,966 minutes, so we have to repeat this performance tomorrow and then race for Sunday for 23 laps... But if we are this fast tomorrow, we can go straight to qualifying 2. However, we don't have to not be happy too soon, because the times are very close to each other. We must be in the Top 10 on Saturday morning after FP3… ».
Pol received a new carbon swingarm at Le Mans, the fork crown angle was changed and the engine was also improved. The new version of the engine was also installed on the machine Johann zarco, and he finished FP2 in 12th place. He is only 0.687 seconds behind the best time. And he left behind Red, which only ranks 18th.
« We put together a few small pieces of the puzzle and improved our whole package” Pol said. “ Everything works well together. The new version of the engine allows us to use the traction control better, we can now use more torque, the anti-slip system now works smoother, the electronics are better adapted to this new type of engine. And the new carbon swingarm gives us a little more 'grip', which was particularly useful in the tight corners at Le Mans. Here at Mugello, on the other hand, the bike is a little too nervous with the carbon swingarm in fast corners. But there are few issues we want to resolve for Saturday. I am happy with the bike and how it works”.
Italian Grand Prix Mugello MotoGP J1: times
