After finishing ninth in FP3 with a time of 1:45.858 and being the only Honda to qualify directly for Q2 , much more was expected of Pol Espargaró in the official timing of the Italian Grand Prix, but the Spaniard finished last, surpassed even by his teammate Marc Márquez who qualified from Q1 and only took one lap in the final session.
Espargaró acknowledged that he had made a mistake in the tire combination, but warned that the set-up of the bike prevents him from being able to understand the behavior of the compounds.
“It is costing us a lot. In FP3 we were better than I thought. In the afternoon with hard tires at the front and soft tires at the rear I thought it would go well, but I was wrong. In front he had to go with the middle as Nakagami did (in Q1). We haven’t had a good Q2, but tomorrow is the race, we have to reset and we’re going to try again with more energy and desire”, explained the man from Granollers.
“In FP3 everything went very well, we took a step forward. The bike works better, but we are still slow. We are not at an adequate level, all the Hondas are far behind, everyone is going very fast except us”, he valued.
Espargaró admitted that the step forward in France was circumstantial.
“ Le Mans gave us a break because I like it and it had a lot of grip, but here we are coming back to reality. I will not deceive you, it is being complicated ”, he fit.
Set-up problems prevent you from understanding compounds.
“FP4 is the moment we have to test, but strange things happen, we are not able to reuse the new rear tire. We always have to brand new. We had to go out in FP4 with a different combination and I ended up with a mix of tires to try to understand how they work, but I’m having a hard time understanding it because with the reused ones I’m not able to make them work again. I need a different set-up”, settled Polyccio .
The photos of Pol Espargaró at the 2021 MotoGP Italian Grand Prix
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: HJC Helmets
Photo by: HJC Helmets
Photo by: HJC Helmets
Photo by: HJC Helmets
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
