That this period is difficult for the Repsol Honda team, with a leader so diminished that he fully accepts having to follow the other drivers to set a time, and a Pol Espargaró incapable of taking over as spearhead of the team. Tokyo team!
However, from this morning in FP1, we believed that the representatives of the world's leading manufacturer finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel, when Marc Márquez achieved the best time then when Pol Espargaro proudly occupied second position behind Franco Morbidelli during a good part of the session, only losing his final third place to the late attack ofAleix Espargaró to seize command.
FP2 generally started in the same tone with the two Honda drivers at the top of the standings, Pol Espargaro the first in 1'40.146, then Marc Márquez in 1'40.120.
Alas, this great performance did not resist the time attack, and, although the differences are ultimately limited, the two RC213Vs based a few kilometers from the circuit were pushed back to 10th and 15th places.
Pol Espargaro, who carries the Honda torch this evening during the Catalan Grand Prix, explains: “It’s a strange day, honestly speaking. The Catalunya circuit is not normally an extraordinary circuit for me. Just because I grew up here in this area doesn't mean I'm fast here. It's not an ideal place for me, because as the asphalt temperature is usually very high here, while the grip level is very low, you have to ride very smoothly. But I'm not the type of driver who drives smoothly and with a lot of speed in the corners. That's why I usually struggle here.
But in the morning FP1 it went rather well, with a 3rd place. The times came quite easily in the morning, so I was also quite satisfied with the afternoon: we didn't push much and the times came.
But we suffer from the usual old problem: As soon as we put a new soft tire on the rear, we can't really make any progress. Ducati in particular, and other manufacturers like Yamaha and all the others, are finding that extra half-second that we can't gain with the soft compound. We can not. There is a lack of grip and traction on the rear wheel. Yes, that's what we suffer from. It's like that. Otherwise, I feel good on the bike, but we are not fast enough. Other than that, our feeling is very good and we started the weekend well. We also have to say well done for the new turn 10, it's very good. »
FP2 standings for the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
