Pol puts KTM back in the game
A tyre gamble and an extremely uncompromising race performance by Pol Espargaro delivered a dream result for KTM at Misano.
Espargaro was unapologetic after deploying frustrating stop-and-go tactics that gifted him a surprise, but deserving, third place after Yamaha rival Fabio Quartararo was demoted with a track limits penalty.
Espargaro knew that his podium dash on the RC16 would be at risk over the final ten laps having gone for the soft rear tyre so it was time to ride as defensively as possible and used his knowledge of his rival’s Yamaha to his advantage.
The Spaniard said: “Ten laps from the end I had no rear grip, I had to defend on the brakes. If you kill the corner speed of the Yamaha they are dead so I braked late and used the KTM power to pull away.
“I knew that Fabio would get past in the end but then the penalty put me on the podium.”
Espargaro’s annoying but legitimate tactics sent Quartararo to the limit in his hunt for passing opportunities.
He added: “We could only dream of a podium here, this result is more than a win for us.”
Espargaro now believes that KTM can play a key role in the outcome of the unique 2020 MotoGP championship as the action enters the second half of the season.
“The championship is reset, the points are very close and we have Le Mans, Aragon and Valencia coming up where we are fast,” he said.
And Espargaro dismisses any suggestion that his decision to leave KTM for the brutal Honda RC213V alongside Marc Marquez next year is flawed and made in haste despite the fact that nobody apart from the now injured Marquez himself has truly been able to master the bike.
He said: “I think I can still be faster on the Honda. You don’t take a decision to do something worse.”
The second Misano round was a race of contrasting fortunes for KTM’s two race winners this season.
Styrian GP winner Miguel Oliveira was fifth with a conservative performance while the reality of a rookie learning curve struck for young South African Brad Binder who suffered an early race crash.