With its two victories and five Grands Prix, as many as Yamaha and one more than Ducati, the manufacturer KTM has made its place in the big leagues of MotoGP this season. There are still nine races left in this calendar of the next world, but this RC16 comes from a world elsewhere. And it is strange for some. Especially for Andrea Dovizioso who likes to analyze everything. He could have looked at it much more closely, if he had signed a contract with the Austrians for 2021. But he is content, for the moment, with his observation post on his Ducati which he will leave at the end of the year…
The great form displayed by the RC16 since Brno is a phenomenon that concerns some drivers in the paddock. To start with Andrea Dovizioso who describes it as a machine from somewhere else: “ they have improved a lot. In MotoGP it is not easy to take such a step », declares the pilot Ducati who would almost be suspicious of it.
The Italian comments: “ From the outside, the KTM is a bit of a strange bike. The characteristics are completely different. It accelerates very well out of the curve. I do not know why. It's strange and very different from all other motorcycles ».
« This bike is very difficult to understand. Binder still rides like Moto2 at the moment, but he is very fast. Pol Espargaró drives very aggressively. Sometimes he's extremely fast, sometimes he loses speed from one lap to the next » adds Dovi who definitely cannot evaluate the Austrian machine: “ from the outside, the good and bad aspects of the motorcycle are difficult to understand. But of course they have made great progress ».
A puzzle made up of all its pieces
To try to enlighten it, Pol Espargaro gives him some information: we found good feel for the front wheel. This way we can release the brakes a little earlier and go a little faster through the corners. This was our advantage over the other bikes from Brno and Spielberg ».
The Spaniard believes that KTM's progress is also due to the fact that the complete puzzle could be put together: “ there were new parts for the chassis, updates for the engine and the electronics got a little better. The new tire caused some problems at some factories, but it suited us well. It didn't all happen suddenly. We changed a lot of things to be this good ", said I will espargaro on Motorsport total, thereby praising the KTM team.
However, he does not want to exaggerate the current successes: “ it's hard to believe we're that fast. I don't want to be negative because I'm always positive, but the best driver is missing at the moment. I would like to compare us to Marquez. Nakagami is very fast and Marc is usually much faster. Are we really as good as we seem? That's my question. I would like to wait for more leads. In Jerez we were not as good as in Brno and Spielberg. So we should keep our feet on the ground ».
We will recall that Pol Espargaro will go join Marc Marquez at Repsol Honda in 2021. This evaluation with the eight-time World Champion, does he want it for his RC16 or ultimately for himself?
