For a wild card, this is a great one. Pol Espargaro, freshly retiredé, puts the gloves back on in Italy by freelancing for his employer KTM, who had given him a chance in MotoGP following the Yamaha Tech3 adventure. Of course, it is difficult to judge his pace given his inactivity – also due to his immense injury which caused him to miss the first part of the 2023 season, but Pol Espargaro always has things to say. At the end of a stressful session, he finished in 18th place, and will find himself tomorrow in Q1 with very big customers.
Pol Espargaro was no longer used to the speed, and more generally, the frenzy of a GP weekend. « The bike is good, but I must admit that it was one of the most stressful days of my career. Coming back to Mugello is just crazy, but it's fun too. And then, the time is not so bad: I am one second behind Pecco Bagnaia » he admitted at the end of this Friday in the columns of GP One. Moreover, he became the holder of the highest speed reached in MotoGP: he was flashed at 366.1 km/h before braking at San Donato.
Back in Orange. 😁#KTM #ReadyToRace #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/DYVqzIVTM1
— Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (@KTM_Racing) May 31, 2024
He spoke at length about what was difficult when returning: « It was hard to manage the fast turns with a lot of angle and downforce. I'm more hesitant than the others with electronics, and I don't really know the soft rubber either. I often rode medium at the end, so I have to manage a lot more grip at the rear." he added. Namely that according to his own words, he rides on the same machine as Dani Pedrosa in Jerez.
New record. Photo: MotoGP
Obviously, his physical state raises questions, he who had come close to the worst during testing for the 2023 Portuguese Grand Prix. « Performance is a combination of elements. And physically, I'm fine. I didn't prepare myself unlike before, so I'm suffering a little cardio-wise. But I was much worse at the end of 2023, and I realized all that when I stopped." he concluded.
Do you think Pol Espargaro will do as well as Dani Pedrosa at Jerez? Tell us in the comments!
Practice result at the 2024 MotoGP Italian Grand Prix:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
Cover photo: KTM
