Pol is ready to learn

Pol Espargaro is already planning ways to adjust and tame his new Honda RC213V during the five test days in Qatar next month.

This year’s pre-season programme has been badly affected by the pandemic, with the end-of-year tests in Valencia and Jerez, and the Sepang test in February cancelled.

This isn’t ideal for a rider starting a completely new chapter in his career, after four seasons developing the KTM RC16, on one of the toughest bikes on the gird. In a championship as tight and competitive as MotoGP, you need as much track time as possible. However, Espargaro has a plan. “I’ve spoken a lot with the team already about how to plan the strategy for the first race, and I think we’ve figured out a good solution to learn quickly and test everything we can in a fast way to avoid any problems,” Espargaro explained.

“I’ll be arriving in Qatar three days before the test and I’m going to meet with all of the engineers. I’m going to see every single corner of the track and try to analyse a lot of data I’ve had in my mind for the last month.” Espargaro acknowledges Marc Marquez’s ability to save a crash as being a key factor that he hopes to learn more about and manage. In fact, Marquez’s return to action is high on Espargaro’s agenda. “Hopefully Marc will return at the first race. For sure, we need Marc because he’s the number one rider in the team, he’s the fastest on the bike and I want to learn from him. The sooner he returns, the faster I’m going to learn from his side. The best way of improving is to be alongside the best rider in the world, and he’s the one.”