Pol Espargaró has certainly lost none of his enthusiasm to have found the RC16 KTM, even in red with GASGAS written on it, and his smile is still as predatory when he is in his Tech3 box with his favorite chief mechanic. However, in Portimao, he understood that he was still, in the hierarchy, at the same level that he had been during the last two years at Honda. The last test on this track, which will also be that of the first Grand Prix which will launch the season in less than ten days, warned him that there was a way to go to join the two other European manufacturers, who are also making the colors shine of Italy in MotoGP. A journey which will begin in particular after the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, if we listen carefully to his words…
In Valencia, Pol Espargaro was ecstatic, in Malaysia he was smiling, and after two days in Portimao, the last stop of this off-season, the Spaniard was satisfied, but nothing more. 18th, one second behind world champion Francesco “Pecco” bagnaia on his formidable Ducati, he had reason to think about his margin of progress which would allow him to get out of the back of the pack: “ we weren't super fast on one lap, but compared to the first day we improved a lot », notes the Spaniard who relegated his rookie compatriot as a teammate Augusto Fernandez to seven tenths. And he adds: “ we are not where we want to be. I felt much better in Malaysia and I felt stronger there over a lap and over the distance ».
Pol Espargaro: “ we will definitely have a lot of work to do in Jerez testing after the Grand Prix in May«
One last remark which hurts the clan of the Pierer Mobility group which had considered the previous trip to Sepang like a missed appointment that needed to be rectified in the Algarve. But that wasn't really the case. And for what reason ? Pol Espargaro answers : " I have problems, especially in these conditions, it comes from a lack of lateral grip. There is almost no lateral grip here and I have more problems with it than my colleagues. It's a big problem for us here, especially with the soft tire. With the average compound it's not such a big problem ».
Then he comes to the performance achieved by Brad Binder at KTM: “ Brad managed to put in a really fast lap, but what he did other than that was at my level. We must improve. A fast lap is good, but we also need to be good at racing ».
Pol Espargaro continues: " Okay, you learn from bad days too. We are now one second away from the best time, a record time in fact. But my feeling wasn't really good ». Then he ends with this mention which seems to reveal that everything is not yet completely ready within the Mattighofen family: “ we will certainly have a lot of work to do during testing in Jerez after the Grand Prix in May. But we still have to wait. The races are the races and we must start the season now ". A feeling and a speech that one could almost confuse with that which is heard in Honda.
MotoGP, Portimao J2 Test: times
Credit classification motogp.com
