The Spanish runner saved a podium after having led with solvency until with five laps to go, when the Italian Enea Bastianini hunted him down, at which point Pol Espargaró went wide at the end of the straight and Brad Binder took advantage of the gap to secure second place.
“To be honest, at the beginning of the race we had another strategy, you think about the pace of the rivals and where you can be, see how everything is going to work out, but in the end everything has been different, I thought I was going to be in the group saving tires and fuel, but I’ve done every lap at full throttle, at the limit with the engine and the tyres.”
“In the end the right flank of the front tire was destroyed, when I saw that my rear wheel was blocked and I understood that it was over. When Enea passed me I thought I was leaving the race, but I was able to come back and finish third “Polyccio summed up his feelings at the end of the race.
It was not easy for Pol to finish on the podium after having led the race, at some point, with a second and a half advantage, and the best thing is that the one who was chasing him to get him off the podium was his brother Aleix.
“I really liked seeing my brother fight for the podium, but today was not a good day for me when he approached me, because I no longer had anything to fight with him, it was good to have that margin, I don’t remember having two brothers fighting for the podium, I hope we can do it this year sometime”, explained the man from Granollers.
Qatar was the first race for Honda with the new RC213V, a completely different bike.
“We have discovered many things about the bike, it is very new, there are things that we must improve, the electronics, the front end, etc. Today we have chosen a tire option that has not allowed us to reach the end, but it is something that we must go discovering, we have discussed that choice, in the next race we will have things clearer”, said Pol, who mounted soft tires front and rear and could not keep them until the end.
“It is a whole process that you have to discover, here in Qatar there is a problem that is not having a real session in which you can work in the same conditions as in the race, and you cannot foresee what is going to happen due to the change We made the safest decision about the tires, I knew it was going to be difficult to finish, but I think we were right because my first race with this bike was important to make sure, for the following ones we will be more prepared”.
Pol considers it good to start the year with a podium, despite the fact that victory was close, and above all the performance of the new RC213V .
“It’s definitely the bike I was looking for, I don’t know if I can say it’s the one I expected, but it is the one I wanted, you don’t have to force or risk to get results, I haven’t crashed on this bike and this means it’s faster, but it’s also safer. I finally have the bike I wanted and I feel strong with it to achieve the results that Honda was looking for from me when they hired me,” settled the Catalan.
