It was a blow to the head that the men of KTM received when they learned that their first rider intended to leave them to go to Honda. A prospect he had not anticipated. Especially since they are anchored in “family” management of their champions. A romanticism which honors them, but which was undermined by their spearhead Pol Espargaró. The latter seized the opportunity to rub shoulders with the Marc Marquez reference with the same material without batting an eyelid. Pit Bierer, KTM sports boss, assesses the new situation. And he does not minimize the importance of the loss for the RC16 project…
Not really what we expected from KTM by studying the prospects after the 2020 season. A campaign expected as a confirmation of the progress of the RC16, preliminary to a new era which should put the Austrian motorcycle at the forefront. The last phase of a long development and the reward for all the efforts invested. With Pol Espargaro as a leader, the future was bright.
However. Pol Espargaro decided to look elsewhere, leaving a big void behind him. Pete Beirer does not disagree and the blow is all the more severe as there was a real bond of affection between the firm and its pilot: “ Pol dove into this MotoGP adventure with us during the 2017 season “, he remembers. “ When he took over the bike from test rider Mika Kallio, we were about 3,5 seconds from the top. Pol was aware of this situation when he came to see us. But he took on his task with determination. We were in the last positions on the starting grid at the 2017 Qatar GP, then we went through ups and downs together ».
“It was the backbone of our project”
« In 2019, we were on the front line twice. Over the past three years, there have been happy and complicated times. But Pol had a big impact on our bike, he made the RC16 the racing machine we go into the season with with high expectations. A year and a half ago, Dani Pedrosa joined us as a test driver, he led the entire development in a new direction. Pol contributed a lot to this project. In principle, this was the backbone of the project. He always pushed without limits and celebrated great success for us. So we wish him all the best for the future. »
« Pol will remain a friend of the house », swears the same Beirer. “ We feel very close to him. I think he has matured enormously with us as a driver. He wasn't a factory driver before. Together with race director Mike Leitner and his crew chief Paul Trevathan, we refined him into a MotoGP rider. When he leaves, we will have one eye laughing and the other crying. He wants to join another team. On the other hand, we are happy for Pol. Because he is still one of us. We must not forget that we now have to do a full season. We have big plans together. We will look decent in 2020, we will fight together at every Grand Prix before we have to give up. »
Pol Espargaro will be replaced within the factory team by Miguel Oliveira who will therefore leave his place at Tech3 to the new recruit from Ducati, Danilo Petrucci.
