At the end of this Doha Grand Prix, which he had just finished thirteenth after starting only fifteenth, Pol Espargaró proclaimed to anyone who would listen that his Honda was an excellent bike which would allow him to be titled at the end of the race. the year. A mirage in the middle of the Qatar desert for the Spaniard? To persuade the audience, he used an argument made up of “ifs” which always remake the world. That being said, if we listen to the new Honda recruit, we realize that he is not that crazy...
Pol Espargaro, upon the arrival of Doha Grand Prix, was able to make a first assessment of his new adventure Honda. A first step that we will assess as encouraging after nine days of filing the track losail. But the Spaniard sees more than that. For him, everything that has happened and that he has reaped is first and foremost very promising for the future.
On his race, he comments: “ I made two big mistakes “, he admits frankly from the outset. “ The first time I went off the track I wanted to overtake, I was very fast and I wanted to brake later. In Qatar you cannot brake on the dirty part of the track, you have to release the brake. It cost me 1,7 seconds. Then I fought to get back on Morbidelli and tried to overtake him again. After the same error I lost 1 second, which means that in total I lost 2,9 seconds ».
Pol Espargaro do not stop at this accounting. He adds in fact: “ there was also my poor starting position. If you're coming from 15th on the grid, you're not in the best starting position to fight for wins or top threes ».
Pol Espargaro: “ I was one of the fastest”
Espargaro Pol, the best driver Honda of this stage in Doha, lost 6,063 seconds to the winner fabio quartararo on his Yamaha . If we take into account the 2,9 seconds lost and subtract them, he could have finished seventh... Especially since he intrinsically had the capacity to achieve such a result: “ my pace was incredible, I was one of the fastest ", declared the pilot of 29 years. “ By the middle of the race I was three tenths of a second faster than the guys in front. But from such a distant starting position you lose approximately four seconds first ».
He ends his demonstration thus: “ you also waste a lot of time by overtaking. We need to improve in two areas: I can't make any more mistakes and the bike needs to get better on Saturday. We have everything for the podium and just need to put it all together ».
And then there’s also this… “ Losail is one of the worst tracks for us », underlined the official Honda. " We didn't have a session where our lap times were good. However, I was one of the fastest in the race. I feel like I'm sitting on the best bike on the grid. We just need to put the pieces of the puzzle together correctly. If we have a good Saturday, we will be at the top of the grid. Take a look at the times: if I had started from the first two rows, I would have undoubtedly made the podium ».
« But if I lose four seconds in the first three laps... Before my first mistake, I was 2,2 seconds behind the leader, so I made up a lot of time. On a track where Honda is normally not very good. Our performance was exceptional. I feel strong enough to become world champion at the end of the year ". To do this, he will have to start a comeback from the next meeting at the Portugal. We will indeed recall that with eleven points, the youngest of I will espargaro is in tenth place General classification after 2 races out of 19 scheduled, Johann zarco currently leading the way with its satellite Ducati at the head of a capital of 40 points. Four better than his runner-up and compatriot Fabio Quartararo. A historic situation for French motorcycles.
MotoGP Qatar 2 J3: classification
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
