Pol Espargaró: "With the 2022 Honda I have the grip I asked for"

November 19, 2021

Jerez.- Pol Espargaró suffered a very strong fall last Saturday at the Valencia Grand Prix that prevented him from taking part in the race and that is conditioned in the tests that are being held this Thursday and Friday in Jerez , some key rehearsals for the development of the 2022 bike and in which Marc Márquez cannot participate due to an eye injury.

The Honda rider rode the 2021 version on Thursday to understand if he was physically in a position to push the new bike to the limit. Pol tested this Friday morning one of the two units that are in the HRC garage here, the one worn by Alex Márquez yesterday, and in the afternoon he will get on the other one, the one used by Takaaki Nakagami yesterday and this morning.

“I’m better from the blow to the right side that I suffered, all the part of the lung has recovered and I can breathe well, I’m happy because even riding poorly and not being able to put the weights on the bike as I should, I’m better. The problem is the wrist (right), it hurts a lot and the pain reaches a point where my hand goes numb, I can’t do more than three laps in a row, I have to make short runs and that doesn’t help”, explained Pol.

Regarding the work plan, the Honda rider went out on the track first in the morning with the 2021 bike and after a couple of acclimatization laps, he already took the 2022 bike.

“I have tested the 2021 bike that we are using and the first prototype (2022), with different setups. Currently two bikes. This afternoon we will test the second prototype, the one Nakagami has been using,” he explained.

“It is a very different bike aerodynamically and, above all, it generates much greater rear grip, and that will help us to be faster and have more safety in the rear. Especially going into the corners, it will help us a lot to avoid falls due to ears, and in the feeling of buoyancy that we suffer, we will be able to use the rear brake and enter the corners later to be able to overtake”.

One of the requests that Pol reiterated the most throughout the season was grip.

“Undoubtedly, this is the grip I was asking for, they have worked hard on that aspect and we have taken a big step. When you generate a lot of rear grip, other problems arise, especially in the front end, which suffers more. Perhaps we need a softer rubber, but we have what we have asked for and now we have to do our job and return the effort”, settled the boy from Granollers .

Pol Espargaro, Repsol Honda Team