Pol Espargaró collects exploits on the handlebars of a KTM which he whips with courage. But bravery also has its limits. Johann Zarco's teammate admits to having spoken to them on familiar terms during this hot day in Catalonia. So hot in fact that the question of the duration of the race would fall into the realm of survival…
Pol Espargaro will start twelfth in the Catalan Grand Prix which will take place this Sunday. His time of 1'40.425 puts him almost a second behind the poleman's performance fabio quartararo, a gap that we no longer hoped to see in the KTM box. But the 27-year-old pilot explains his day like this: “ I did a lap to make sure but I was too slow... So in the second, I attacked like crazy. I pushed, but there were yellow flags because of Álex Rins' fall. It happens... On an ideal lap, I could have gone three tenths faster. I could then have qualified one row higher ».
« As always the high temperature conditions are not ideal for us, like in Mugello. As soon as it gets hotter, we suffer more than others. Tomorrow's race is a question of survival. I hope we can get a decent result ". An expertise that is not trivial. He adds in fact: “ we don't know what happens when temperatures are high. Is it due to the tires or the track? In FP4, it was very dangerous with worn soft tires and new medium tires. I even had to stop and change the rear tire. I then took a used soft tire. However, I stopped eight minutes before the end of the FP4 session because I found it too dangerous ».
A feeling that is not trivial: “ I have never felt anything like this since I was in the MotoGP category. I don't think the problem is with the bike itself. Either it doesn't match the tires. Or the tires don't match the track... In any case, we suffer more than the opponents and we lose more when the heat is on. We need to analyze everything now. Because the race will be very slow tomorrow or we will have a lot of crashes. So we must fight for our survival » said Pol.
Pol Espargaro said he had no idea which compound to use for the next 24 rounds. “ I don't know what to take in the front, and it's no different in the back. It will be a gamble. Because in the 20 minutes of warm-up we will have no chance to make a clear decision about the tires. It gets difficult. Catalonia was already our toughest race in 2017 and 2018. I'm afraid that hasn't changed much. In FP3, in slightly cooler conditions, we achieved a good time of 1'39,8 min. But in the race it will be much hotter ».
Johann zarco, his teammate will start 20e and the Monday following the Catalan Grand Prix, Dani Pedrosa will come as reinforcements to carry out tests on the RC16.
MotoGP Catalonia J2: times
