Now that the transfer market has seen all the headliners find refuge here and there, by domino effect the focus is on the “second knives”, and there is nothing pejorative in this term.
Pol Espargaro currently seems to be the center of attention of the teams and factories, if only because he received an ultimatum from Yamaha and Tech3 to give his answer regarding his possible retention in the French structure; Barcelona!
To keep number 44, we are ready to offer him an improvement in his conditions; already under contract directly with Yamaha and having a motorcycle almost as efficient as the official machines (or even faster in top speed), the Granollers rider could indeed receive additional support from Japanese engineers.
A really attractive offer but which now has to face that, quite similar, from Ducati through the Avintia team; factory motorcycle and support for it.
Paolo ciabatti, director of Ducati Corse, AS at Mugello: “Pol is a rider that Ducati likes and it would be a good option to be able to have him with a factory contract in the Avintia team, and see if, in this way, the team could develop, since it would have a GP17 like those of Lorenzo and Dovizioso, just like his teammate Barbera. We will speak with his agent soon and see if this can come to fruition.”
Pol Espargaro therefore finds himself with at least two competitive “quasi-factory” offers, plus undoubtedly one from KTM as well as that of at least one satellite team.
What we don't know is how much Ducati is willing to put on the table to retain the 2 Moto2013 world champion...
