This Sunday August 29, 2021, Pol Espargaro answered questions from journalists from the Silverstone circuit, at the end of the third day of the MotoGP British Grand Prix.
We went to listen (via teleconferencing software) to the words of the Spanish driver, who finished the race in fifth place after starting from pole position, his best result obtained with Honda so far.
As usual, we report here the words of Pol Espargaro without the slightest formatting.
Pol, you obtained a good result today, but we imagine that you were aiming a little higher given your pole position. Did you encounter any problems during the race?
« I had problems in high-speed corners, the ones where you build up a lot of speed, because the rear of my bike was locking up and moving a lot. It is certain that I wanted more, especially since I had the top speed of the guys in front. I was comfortable in the early stages of the race, and I could keep up with my brother's pace as well as that of Álex Rins. But then my tires deteriorated. We were the only ones with the other Hondas to have chosen the soft rear tire. »
It must have done something to you to be in the lead with your brother at the start of the race? Furthermore, we felt that the entire Honda team was behind you in this event…
« It was quite moving yes, and I am very proud of what my brother achieved today. For my part, after the race I must say that the whole team was very happy because we went through some really difficult times. I would have loved to finish on the podium, because I think we had the potential. But the situation is what it is, and we couldn't do more, at least that's my opinion. »
« We have to put things into perspective: If someone had told me before this weekend that I was going to take pole and finish in fifth position, just three seconds from the podium, I would have signed straight away! We must be happy with our result. Now it's time for Aragon, where we will go with a much better bike than before. »
“If someone had told me before the weekend that I was going to take pole and finish 5th, I would have signed straight away! »
Have you ever considered the medium tire for the rear?
« I'm not saying that it was a bad choice, but when we see that the higher ranked drivers actually used the medium tire at the rear, whereas for us it was quite dangerous in the sense that we lacked a lot of grip with this one, it put us in a fairly critical situation. This is something we were aware of, and it was particularly true here, when we see that the Hondas, which usually use the hardest compounds, ultimately have to resort to the softest. We are working on this issue. »
What was it like to ride with the headliners? You explained at a press conference after the qualifying session that it would be a big discovery for you…
« It was much more enjoyable to fight at the front than to fight for a place in the top 10! The guys take strange paths, and they attack you every chance they get, and even if they're not as fast they take their chances. It's quite tiring to be in this position, because you're always on the defensive. You are not trying to be the fastest, but simply to maintain your position. It's quite difficult to explain, it's like survival! »
“It was more enjoyable to fight at the front than for a place in the top 10”
Do you think you will be able to display the same level of performance in Aragon?
« Based on our result today, it should go well. But it's difficult to predict what will happen. I like Aragón, I'm maybe even faster there than here at Silverstone. The bike should logically be at least as good as last year, and last year Takaaki Nakagami was faster than everyone. »
« But the conditions in 2020 were quite different from those we are likely to encounter this year. This year, the temperature should in fact be around 30°C while last year it was around 20°C. That's a difference of 10°C, and that's not nothing. It's a place where I have been fast in the past: I won there in Moto2 as well as in 125cc, and I even had the opportunity to train there during the summer. »
« I also like the place, because it is a home Grand Prix, and there are always quite a few Spanish spectators to support us. I think we can get a good result there, but I don't want to get ahead of myself in terms of predictions. I just hope we can maintain this pace and continue to have fun. »
MotoGP – Silverstone – Race Results
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
