Last weekend, at Motegi, Pol Espargaró finished 12th, 17 seconds behind the winner (Jack Miller) and ten seconds behind Marc Márquez, his neighbor in the HRC workshop, who finished fourth after winning, on Saturday, the first pole position of the season for the Japanese constructor. The inertia in which Márquez finds himself has nothing to do with that of his partner, who gives the impression that the outcome of the championship is taking a long time.
Espargaró is 16th in the points table, 26 points behind his teammate, who is 15th, as the best placed rider among the Tokyo manufacturer. That, despite having missed eight events on the calendar.
Paradoxically, Honda’s best result to date is the third place that Polyccio claimed in Qatar, the opening round, after fighting for victory until the last laps with Enea Bastianini (winner) and Brad Binder (second). From that point on, the problems began for HRC and its riders, affected by the lack of traction from the rear of the RC213V and its lazy cornering.
Since that first and only podium of this exercise, the trajectory of the youngest of the brothers from Granollers (Barcelona) drew a descending trajectory, with ninth place in Portimão as the greatest success.
Suzuki’s goodbye to the World Championship had a clear impact on the market, and a determining influence on the strategy of several teams. Also from Honda, which looked to Joan Mir as a substitute for Espargaró with a view to 2023. The agreement between the Japanese company and the Mallorcan was not announced until GasGas made the arrival of the
#44. That was in the run-up to the Austrian Grand Prix, in August, and with almost half a course (eight races) still to go.
Throughout this time, Espargaró always declared his willingness to help Honda in the development of the RC213V, especially during the period in which Márquez was out. However, Honda chose to pull Takaaki Nakagami while waiting for the one from Cervera (Lleida), who reappeared in the group test after the San Marino Grand Prix, and who raced again in Aragon.
“It is clear that my chapter with Honda ended many races ago. I have had the same motorcycle since Qatar. When there is no improvement, when there are no new parts and the others are still working, then it becomes very evident,” said Espargaró, in Motegi to Motorsport.com. “If you have problems, and even with those they don’t bring you new things and you continue with the same motorcycle, everything is clear”, continued the Spaniard, who next year will wear red, the colors of GasGas, no matter how much his motorcycle goes to be a KTM RC16, on paper identical to the one that Jack Miller and Brad Binder will use. “Since the first problems of lack of grip that we had after the first race, in Qatar, I have not received anything new,” Espargaró clinched.
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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
