Of all the events that brightened up this Grand Prix in Misano which will go down in history, the one concerning Pol Espargaró went unnoticed. And yet, for Aleix's younger brother, this result matters a lot. On the one hand, he offers himself his first podium with an RC213V and, on the other hand, he allows his employer, with his performance, to reconnect with the concept of the double forgotten since 2017. All on a dry track and without racing incidents, or, to put it bluntly, on a regular basis...
Pol Espargaro added a MotoGP podium to his career, but this time he doesn't wear the color of KTM. But that of Repsol Honda. An important moment in the positioning of the Spanish recruit from the beginning of the year in the organization chart of the Tokyo manufacturer. Moreover, the teammate of Marc Marquez make no mistake: “ it means a lot to me. This means that you break the podium wall with the Repsol Honda and the truth is that it is a liberation. This means that I made the right decision in my career. Everyone knows that I have had difficulties throughout this year, but finally getting this result is something very positive for me ».
He continues with a precision that would explain why European brands seem technically much more responsive these days than their counterparts from the land of the rising sun: “ as Marc says, on an ego level, it is very important for me as a driver, but it is also very important for the team because they have worked a lot during the pandemic. The Japanese factory was affected more than the European factories and it was more difficult to overcome our problems because it could not operate in the same way as the European factories. I'm happy for me, but especially for Honda ».
Pol Espargaró took full advantage of the latest tests in Misano
Pol Espargaro also explains its improvement in Misano with the tests carried out the day after the first Grand Prix on the site located on the banks of the Adriatic: “ I just focused on repeating what I was doing in the last race and in testing, which was really good. Ultimately, the best moment of the weekend was in FP3, where I was able to put in a lap that got me into Q2 and allowed me to qualify fourth. This is how I had already traced half of the race because you can apply your driving style ».
However, there is always room for improvement: “ There are two things I can improve here. First of all, I don't think I made the right choice of tires. The previous race I used the medium rear and I was able to brake the bike better whereas today I had difficulties, I didn't feel comfortable entering the curve because I was sliding too much from the back. The second thing is that Marc is very good in the first few laps with a full tank when it comes to overtaking drivers and that's something that I have to learn from him ».
MotoGP Misano-2 J3: classification
Credit classification motogp.com
