Mike Leitner is the manager of the Red Bull KTM team and as such, he has full authority to provide an initial assessment of this 2019 MotoGP season. Troops torn between a Pol Espargaró in full euphoria and a Johann Zarco at the bottom of the hole. The Austrian talks about the two poles located in his box…
On one side one Pol Espargaro who rubs shoulders, for a third season in MotoGP, with an RC16 that he saw born, and on the other a Johann zarco who discovered the Austrian machine. A bike decidedly very different from his old Yamaha which had allowed him to assert himself during his first two years among the elite. What conclusions can be drawn from this cohabitation, halfway into this year 2019? “ Overall, we are quite happy with the progress our project has made over the first half of the season " announcement Mike Leitner. " We managed to finish in the top 10 six times. Sixth place at Le Mans was a big highlight ».
However, only Pol Espargaro has regularly appeared in the top half of the rankings. The 28-year-old Spaniard has already given the Red Bull KTM factory team five top-10 finishes this season. At the French Grand Prix, he crossed the finish line in sixth position, just 5,9 seconds behind the winner. With 56 points, the Spaniard ranks 10th in the championship standings after nine races. For comparison, during the entire 2018 season, he only had 51 points. However, the newcomer Johann zarco made the jump into the top 10 just once. In the general classification, he finds himself in 17th place.
« For the moment, Johann is still having trouble adapting to our package, to our bike. We try to support him in all aspects and give him better direction. On the other hand, of course, we learned a lot » commented the team manager on the difficulties of the double Moto2 world champion, who has already reached the podium six times during his Tech3 Yamaha period over the last two years.
The 29-year-old Frenchman also hopes that the new test driver Dani Pedrosa, who rode at Brno and the Red Bull Ring during this summer break, will help him progress. “ We know very well where something is missing and where we need to improve. We work hard, the factory employees work hard and bring ideas. During the summer break, we completed a rather demanding testing program with Dani » commented Leitner on motogp.com.
« We are working on a few aspects of the engine and chassis. We also want to bring an aerodynamic update. We're just going to make our way and make the bike more and more competitive » declared the 56-year-old Austrian.
