MotoGP, Sepang J2 Test: two crashes and too much work for Pol Espargaró

Stop the infernal pace! In spirit the day before, which marked the start of his three days of testing at Sepang for MotoGP, Pol Espargaro saw his enthusiasm undermined the next day. A fall, which is his second in two days, and a significant workload, have worn him down. And this is felt in its final result. For the first time since the arrival of Johann Zarco at his side, he had to hand over control of the Austrian team to the Frenchman.

Pol Espargaro complained about being overloaded by KTM on Thursday at Sepang with too many new parts to put through their paces. A second accident, after that of Wednesday, was not likely to make him smile. “ Friday we have to go to work more relaxed » Commented Aleix's brother.

Pol Espargaro was in the top 10 all day Wednesday, but fell in the afternoon. Overall, only 17th place, 1s408 behind the leader Casa Particular in Viñales. " We tried so many pieces, something new every three rounds, I was a little lost. Sometimes you have to take the time to breathe and ask yourself if the new game was really better or not "

Public chat speedweek He pursues : " it is important that our motorcycle improves anyway. And that’s 100% the case. Although new test pieces aren't always what we're looking for, we're getting better. It's a good test. But I have been really overloaded with new pieces... These are exhausting days, because in this heat everything is twice as tiring. We did over 60 laps today, plus the 60 from yesterday. It's our fourth day here since Saturday ».

« The morning accident happened very early, it was anything but useful. We're going to start our fifth day of testing here. We need to go to work more relaxed. What we want is more and more grip on the rear wheel... But if we shift more weight back, the problems persist ».

He finishes : " Maybe now we will focus on good race pace and a fast lap in between. But we shouldn't test and swap so many parts. I want to concentrate on a motorcycle. Of course it's a test, we have a lot of work. Therefore, setbacks should be expected. Today we took too much. We tested new electronic configurations, new fins, new aerodynamics, many fairings, different rear swingarms, many parts. We are also working on improving the chassis. It's wonderful that we have so much new material here. Because we need to become more competitive. But it's exhausting... »

MotoGP, Sepang J2 Test: time

1	12	Maverick Vinales	Yamaha M1	1:58.897
2	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki GSX-RR	1:59.424	0.527	0.527
3	43	Jack Miller	Ducati GP19	1:59.517	0.620	0.093
4	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati GP19	1:59.562	0.665	0.045
5	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda RC213V	1:59.566	0.669	0.004
6	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha M1	1:59.625	0.728	0.059
7	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati GP18	1:59.664	0.767	0.039
8	93	Marc Márquez	Honda RC213V	1:59.790	0.893	0.126
9	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati GP19	1:59.845	0.948	0.055
10	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda RC213V	1:59.966	1.069	0.121
11	5	Johann zarco	KTM RC16	1:59.973	1.076	0.007
12	63	Francis Bagnaia	Ducati GP18	1:59.995	1.098	0.022
13	41	Aleix Espargaró	Aprilia RS-GP	2:00.101	1.204	0.106
14	20	fabio quartararo	Yamaha M1	2:00.108	1.211	0.007
15	21	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha M1	2:00.151	1.254	0.043
16	6	Stefan bradl	Honda RC213V	2:00.230	1.333	0.079
17	44	Pol Espargaro	KTM RC16	2:00.305	1.408	0.075
18	29	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia RS-GP	2:00.510	1.613	0.205
19	66	Mika Kallio	KTM RC16	2:00.523	1.626	0.013
20	88	Miguel Oliveira	KTM RC16	2:00.672	1.775	0.149
21	36	Joan mir	Suzuki GSX-RR	2:00.876	1.979	0.204
22	17	Karel Abraham	Ducati GP18	2:01.245	2.348	0.369
23	T1	Nakasuga/Nozane	Yamaha M1	2:01.406	2.509	0.161
24	50	Sylvain Guintoli	Suzuki GSX-RR	2:01.654	2.757	0.248
25	55	Hafiz Syahrin	KTM RC16	2:01.859	2.962	0.205
26	T2	Nakasuga/Nozane	Yamaha M1	2:02.989	4.092	1.130
27	85	Takuya Tsuda	Suzuki GSX-RR	2:03.276	4.379	0.287