This weekend, MotoGP riders will live an experience never before known. From their television, they will watch the Moto2 and Moto3 riders launch their season in a Qatar Grand Prix which has been removed from the calendar. This without really knowing when they will join them on the track to experience the same joys of competition. A frustration and a destabilizing period for these true thoroughbreds. The proof with Pol Espargaró…
Like all of his MotoGP colleagues, Pol Espargaro will watch the drivers from other categories have fun from home. This cancellation of the Qatar Grand Prix for the good reasons we know, is heartbreaking for these champions. Andrea Dovizioso had already recognized it when recounting a strange feeling born from a beautiful and demanding broken routine. The official KTM is in the same idea by stating: “ it affects us a lot because we are increasing the pre-season in a way. You train very hard to start the season at a certain time and now everything is delayed. It changes a little bit the focus on the start of the season, how we will train from now on and what we will do. »
He adds : " and more than anything, it's a psychological problem. We have been doing pre-season since November, preparing for the first race of the year and preparing for the whole season. We have no competition and we need it because we have been ready for a long time »
However, Pol Espargaro also admits that, sportingly and technically, it’s not really a bad deal for KTM: “ the first races are those which cost us the most and in which we suffer the most because they are those outside Europe. We don't have enough information there. We have 3 years of experience in the championship and less experience outside Europe. These are the circuits that we travel the least to train. The first races for me were not the most important, they were the ones where we would have suffered the most a priori. Obviously, it is a pleasure to go to Qatar and Thailand, Texas and Argentina, but they are not the most favorable for us and are the most critical. The bike has improved a lot this season and KTM has worked hard this winter to bring the best possible package to testing and the first race but things are like this. »
« It's the same for everyone and maybe we have a little more advantage because being a team that hasn't achieved the same results as the other factories we have more tests and more testing days. tests available » recognizes the teammate Brad Binder on sports world. « We can organize one more test day than the others between now and the next race. So we're going to fill this break with a test that others can't do... »
