The youngest of the brothers from Granollers (Barcelona) signed for Honda with a view to last year, and as soon as he donned the suit of the official team of the brand with the golden wing, he questioned the behavior of his new team, both in matters of communication and reaction times.
He came from KTM, where he led the development of the first version of the RC16 and where the working formula had nothing to do with that of his new line-up. And Honda didn’t like that. The passage of time and the statistics, however, now seem to agree with #44.
Above all, in the case of the manufacturer from Tokyo, who cannot find the key to square the RC213V , a prototype that looked very good in preseason, and that has only been able to add a podium so far in the World Championship, the one that Pol , precisely him, was in Qatar, the first stop on the calendar.
“The European brands are putting the batteries more than the Japanese. The most important thing now is that your reaction to the problems that arise is fast. The speed of reaction is more important at the moment than the power of the factories”, Espargaró summarized , whose future is not at all clear, but which seems increasingly distant from Honda.
“We are not used to seeing non-Japanese motorcycles win, but in recent years that is becoming more and more important. And seeing how Aprilia, KTM and Ducati work, and then the Japanese, well, the contrast is obvious” , added the Spaniard, who went a little further in his argument.
“Fabio [Quartararo] hesitated a lot before renewing for Yamaha; Suzuki is going through problems and we are suffering. Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha could eat any European manufacturer, due to their size. But this is no longer about the budget, but about who does things better”, continued the #44, the best rider among those of Honda this Saturday at the Circuit.
The bad moment of the Catalan contrasts with that of his older brother, author of the pole, favorite to fight for the victory and involved in the brawl for the title.
“It’s nice to see Aleix on pole and with the best pace. He will have more pressure than now, but he feels very good with the bike, the team and others. He could never opt for a bike as competitive as the one he has now”, Espargaró clinched.
