About Carmen Marin Jiménez / Motosan.es
Pol Espargaró spoke to Motosan to take stock of what happened in 2018 and how 2019 is shaping up. The Catalan talks at length about the most current topics in MotoGP.
Pol Espargaro (Granollers, 1991) approaches the 2019 season after what was probably his year The hardest. KTM's development was slowed by his injuries and those of Mika Kallio, the brand's test rider. The arrival of the new year gives him the opportunity to forget and start from scratch.
Good times become more valuable when they come after difficult times. This is something the Catalan rider learned after undergoing surgery in 2018 to remove a plate from his collarbone in December, a herniated disc in his back before the start of the season, a broken collarbone in the Czech Republic, a very significant injury to the bone marrow and a second fracture of the clavicle in Aragón. After all that, in Valencia it was the youngest Espargaró's first podium in MotoGP.
Question: First of all, let's go back a few months, to November 18 of last year: does this date mean anything to you? What did this podium mean to you, after appearing so often at its doors?
Answer: It was very important, not only because of my sports career, which ultimately is a very important thing for me. But I think it was more about everything we experienced during the year: the injuries, the bad times... Not only for me, but for the people who are with me and who share my daily life day to day. day, and my entire team. In the end, the team was going from one driver to the next, not knowing how he was doing or when he would return, and that tasted awful to me. I think it was very important to me, but it was more of a big picture of what it did for the team and the energy it gave us to start this year.
Q: As you said, 2018 was a very difficult year due to injuries. According to those around you, it was the hardest of your career. How do you feel ? What lessons did you learn from it?
A: Yes, there have been several difficult periods since pre-season. There were even times when I thought I wouldn't get back on a motorcycle. During the pre-season, when I had to have back surgery, the doctor told me that there was a possibility of staying six months without being able to ride a motorcycle, due to lack of sensitivity in certain areas, if the operation did not go well. This is where you think about a lot of things. Then when the fall happens to me in the Czech Republic and I'm told I'm about to become disabled... that also makes you think. And the whole process of recovery of all the nerves in my neck, the lack of sensitivity in my fingers, the long nights without being able to sleep or rest, all the medications I had to take, while I was going like a zombie... I think that all these processes, although not very long, make you think a lot. They replay in your head a thousand times. It's easy to go crazy if you don't have people to encourage and support you.
Q: Leaving the past behind us, 2019 will be a year of change. The first, your teammate who, after five years, is no longer Bradley Smith. What do you expect from Johann Zarco? During the first tests, it seems that the KTM is a little difficult for him…
A: It's normal, the move from Yamaha to KTM is quite drastic. What we all expect from him is very good results, and for him to bring vitality to the team. He is a very popular driver, he is a kid like me, with a lot of desires, and I am convinced that he comes with the great desire to win titles. I think what we're all hoping for is a little bit of pressure from him, that he recharges our batteries, and that we all start working together to win. Ultimately, that's KTM's goal and mine. This extra pressure that Johann is going to give us is going to be very good for all of us.
Q: What are the Frenchman’s impressions of the KTM?
A: Well, he says that obviously, like all motorcycles, it has strengths and weaknesses. Right now, the weaknesses are more important than the strengths and that is why we are in the situation we are in. But he is happy because the front axle works quite well when braking, despite the fact that it took him a little time to adapt to Valencia and he had a few scares and a few falls with the before. This is because the Yamaha is a bike that is very easy to enter corners, it turns a lot, and the KTM at that moment, you have to guide it a little more and fight a little more with it on entry turning.
But once you have solved this phase, the bike responds very well. The engine works very well and the electronics too. So he was happy because she has some strengths that we need to exploit more, because we're not yet getting the performance we should. He has different points of view from mine, which must be followed to improve the bike, without a doubt.
Q: Some people think that the KTM is a very difficult bike to ride. I've even heard that it's the most complicated, but your aggressive style seems to suit it well. How would you describe the 2019 prototype? What are your impressions?
A: The bike is complicated, that’s for sure. I don't know if it's the most complicated, but certainly one of the most complicated. But it's not because the brand made a motorcycle like that, it's because we're at the beginning. Starting without information and starting from scratch, it's normal that it costs a little more, that it moves more because the electronics are not adjusted to perfection, neither is the chassis, the rigidity of the neither does a motorcycle… So it’s obvious that we need a process.
Now, after the tests we did with Johann, a lot of conclusions were drawn, Johann contributed a lot to the team. This gave us the opportunity to take different paths for the next test which we have in a few days in Malaysia, and in Qatar. And from there we'll define what the 2019 prototype will be and we'll get started. Yes, we already have a 2019 bike, and this is what happens after the changes proposed by Johann, together with Dani and my comments. It will change a little and we will meet again.
Q: Another change is the arrival of the KTM satellite team. They will have official equipment and, as Poncharal said in statements to Crash.net, Pit Beirer only wants KTM to win, no matter if it is a satellite or official bike. What do you expect from them, you who know Tech3? How can they help you?
A: Yes, that's right, Pit is right. Ultimately, we need as much, highly reliable information as possible. And for that, satellites must have the same performance as us, the same hardware and the same parts. This way we will get the information we want and that we, the officials, can use. We have already seen with Zarco this year, and in recent years with Bradley and I, that the team is competitive, young, and eager to progress. They are used to developing young drivers and promoting them to different teams. So let's hope that they will help us a lot and give us the much-needed information. And why not, if they have to beat us on some circuits, we will be delighted, because it will mean that we will have inside information.
Q: The latest change is the arrival of Dani Pedrosa as test driver. We recently learned that he suffered an unfortunate stress-related fracture of his collarbone. How does this affect your plans?
A: This affects us a lot. We have a lot of hopes and expectations about Dani. He is a very fast and very technical rider, who understands the settings of the bike very well, and that is what we need most at the moment, and that is why KTM has agreed with Dani. But I think Dani is in that moment right now in retirement where the pressure is off making you feel all the pain and all the hurts.
I experienced this myself at the end of this season. When you finish a very stressful season, you get sick, you suffer from illnesses you didn't have, and it takes time to recover. I think Dani, after all the injuries he had, with this break and the relaxation after the storm, all the bad things happen to him. And from KTM, and of course from me, we wish him a speedy recovery and that he is on the bike as soon as possible because, without a doubt, we need him badly.
Q: Can you tell us anything about the information Pedrosa passed on after his first KTM test?
A: Yes, at the end he says that there is a lot of work to do, that it is a bike that is not doing badly but that, obviously, compared to the Honda, there is still a lot to do. There is still a lot of work, from the design in Austria and decision-making on part development to the testing team, to improve and become more competitive. The motorcycle has a lot of parts that need improvement. Dani contributed a lot, but not only in the technical part, and that is its importance. He is not only good in the technical part, but also in everything that surrounds the world of MotoGP. Dani masters everything perfectly: like mechanics, electronics, engineers, the evolution of parts, problem solving, the speed of problem solving… Here, he has a lot to contribute.
Q: Aside from KTM, there is a rumor that when you arrived at Yamaha, Lorenzo and Rossi copied your use of engine braking, because they used it less than you. It's true ?
A: Yes, just when I arrived at Yamaha I had just used a rather rudimentary clutch and engine brake in Moto2, much more than in MotoGP. We had to adapt and play with the clutch and engine braking to enter the corners, helping the rear end to brake the bike. And that pretty much caused us to lock up the rear end. What I missed the most when I got on the Yamaha was that when I was about to enter the corners, I always rode a little far because I didn't feel that pressure in the rear axle. So we created an engine braking system similar to that of Moto2, but which evolved and behaved much better, with variations depending on the angle. The more angle we had, the more the engine braking was reduced, so that it was less dangerous to enter the curve.
I remember a crash I had at Mugello, where I flew into the first corner, where we tested different engine brakes with different settings. We tried to evolve as much as we could, we got a lot of performance out of it and I had an excellent year, I finished sixth in the World Championship. The work that we did all year was used by them because they had problems with the engine braking and in the first part of the curve. And it went very well for them.
Q: Lorenzo himself is radically changing teams this year to take his third factory bike. What do you expect from him?
A: I'm very curious about what Jorge can do. We are used to seeing him drive very gently, very well. We thought he couldn't apply it to the Ducati. And now we even see how much finer Dovi drives: he has a much smoother ride than before. I think it's also, in part, thanks to what Jorge was able to bring to the team. I'm very curious to see what Jorge can do with this bike. We know that Marc is a very aggressive rider, who moves the bike a lot to ride it, and it seems like the Honda is a very aggressive bike. So I'm curious to see if this bike can also be ridden differently.
Also, I think Dani hasn't been very fit in recent years due to his injuries. That's why he didn't give Márquez the response we were all waiting for, and I think Dani could have done it. And with Jorge, motivated, at Honda, as Marc's teammate... I think it's going to be very interesting. Plus, he was pretty quick in Jerez, so we'll see what he can do. I'm very, very curious.
Q: How do you see Marc in 2019? After the tension that reigned when you were rivals in 125 and Moto2, has your relationship improved?
A: Yes, we get along better now. I never really had a problem with Marc. It is true that the environment is still very bad for relations between pilots. Above all, at specific times, the press always creates great rivalries to sell a little more. In many cases, it is very harmful for the drivers, who are racing, and also for the spectator, because it is not a nice sight to see two drivers getting along badly. But I never really had a negative relationship with Marc, as was the case with Valentino and Biaggi, for example. I get along very well with him, I think he's a very cheerful guy like me, who really likes what he does. He's having a lot of fun on the bike and I really envy the results he's getting, how much he's enjoying it and how easy everything is on the Honda.
Q: Another rider you fought with in Moto2 is Scott Redding. Two days ago he gave an interview on Crash.net and said that the only thing he regretted in his MotoGP career was not winning the championship in 2013. He said it was unfair that the Dunlop were tougher after the summer break, but you also had a lot of complaints that year about the tires, because you ended up getting cracks in the tires.
A: That year was pretty tough for everyone in the category, not just me. I saw, for example, Jordi Torres arrive with his tires in pieces at the Sachsenring. It didn't just happen to me, it happened to almost everyone. At that time, Marc VDS had a much larger budget and could do more private training and testing with Dunlop. This is how they developed a system to avoid destroying the tires. But we couldn't do it, we didn't have time to develop the machine we had with Sito (Pons). I think the main issue was a security issue. At the end of the race, the bike was vibrating a lot in the middle of the straight… It was neither faster nor slower, it was a safety problem, and it was not normal.
Dunlop, of course, took the step of making harder tires so at least they wouldn't destroy themselves. That should have helped or benefited him [at Redding], because a heavier rider puts more weight on the rear and makes the harder tires work better. This is why Dani had so many problems with Michelin this year. So we try to adapt and we adapt faster than him. It's also true that at the start of the season with Scott, I had a lot of crashes and we arrived with the same number of zero results in Valencia. And, with the same number of zeros, I arrived very differently from him. It was a really fun year with Scott, which I really enjoyed, but I also suffered a lot because of the problem you mentioned with the tires, and I had a really bad time.
Q: Finally, how do you see your brother? You are both direct rivals in the general classification, but you are not usually together on the track much….
A: It is difficult in MotoGP to be on par with a rider. Motorcycles are very different, there are more differences because of motorcycles, motorcycles make more differences than riders. In Moto2 we normally see more clinch action and competitive racing, and there will be even more than before with the change. But in MotoGP it is very difficult to struggle and fight with another rider. Normally, you are more likely to fight with your teammate than with another driver from another brand. But even so, we still had some (fights) in some races this year. I remember one in Holland, in Assen, where we had a lot of fun. We both attacked in the last corner of the last lap and it was a lot of fun. I see Aleix well, he is motivated, although I think Aprilia needs to put a little more meat on the grill, with the talents they have in the team. And they're going to have even more with Iannone. But it doesn't benefit us, so I'm not going to say it too loudly either. Aleix trains very hard, he is very strong physically and he is very eager to start the season.
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