Pol Espargaró did not necessarily shine in the hunt for a dry lap during the three days of testing in Qatar, but he left reassured and determined. The KTM official is convinced that his new RC16 will be able to play in the leading group with bikes that were until now unattainable on a regular basis. Among these, the Ducati, clearly designated as the targets by the Spaniard…
Pol Espargaro only finished fourteenth in his tests in Qatar, with a time putting him eight tenths behind the leader Maverick Vinales, impeccable on his Yamaha . But the Spaniard doesn't care. He knows exactly where he stands with his new RC16 and this evaluation makes him smile… “ I am very satisfied, the lap time is stable. I was about a second faster than last year. It's very interesting for us »
« It was important for us to understand the new tires, how grip works and how the bike's behavior is sensitive to it. It went as planned. It's nice, we have more stability. rejoices the teammate of a Brad Binder who is a promising debutant this season. “ We established a good race pace, so that's positive. Yamaha is clearly faster than us. I would say Yamaha and Suzuki are in the first group. I think we are in the group with Ducati, with the official Ducati team. The others are a little slower than us in terms of race pace. That's why I'm happy. We improved the aspect we needed to correct, which was the race pace on Sunday. »
It now remains to confirm all his good intentions in the race. It will take place on March 8 on the same Losail track which was used for the last tests of this off-season.
