Pol Espargaró, Moto2 world champion in 2013, finished the 2016 season in 8th place in the MotoGP World Championship, under the colors of the Tech3 team.
Then he got on his KTM RC16 during the two days of testing in Valencia, and came out in 17th place on the time sheet, 1,878 seconds behind the best time achieved by Maverick Vinales on his Yamaha.
A very honest performance, compared to the 2,491 seconds conceded by Mika Kallio on Jorge Lorenzo in qualifying, but still relatively far from the second conceded by his ex-bike, whether it was driven by the rookies Jonas Folger ou Johann zarco.
Asked by speedweek, the driver from Granollers admits to being obsessed with the steel frame of his Austrian machine and wants to be resolutely cautious…
Pol Espargaro: “With WP we are using a suspension in 2017 that will not be used by another MotoGP team. I'm still not sure if this is a problem or a benefit, but it's certainly a change. However, in Valencia I did not encounter any difficulties. But during the season it will change a lot of things, we will follow very different paths. However, in Moto2, WP is already very good. So they have good experience. What focuses most of my thoughts is the tubular steel frame. Not because it's bad, but because it's new. It wasn't even used in Moto2. But it is also true that KTM has been successful wherever they participate; Motocross, Enduro, everywhere. But all this is quite far from MotoGP. We will work as much as possible, to improve very quickly.
KTM has big plans. What they tackle, they earn. They have a lot of self-confidence and potential. But the project is new, and we are fighting against big manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Ducati who have been in the MotoGP category for a long time. In Qatar we won't be able to think about the ranking yet, but we will have to continue step by step. We will have to improve throughout the year, and only then can we think about the places obtained in the second year. We cannot start directly in the Top 10, because we do not yet have the right basis for this. To do this, we need time”
Realism or excess caution on the part of the Spanish pilot? Only time will tell. However, let us add another specificity of the KTM: it is the only MotoGP whose engine is a Screamer, a subject discussed here by its designer Kurt Trieb.
