Like any aspiring Spanish racer, Pol Espargaró has always wanted to ride for the Repsol Honda team. After two years, he returns to KTM sobered.
In the last ten days, Aprilia have confirmed Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales for the next two years. Yamaha announced the extension of the contract with Fabio Quartararo on Thursday, and the Frenchman is also under contract until the end of 2024. Repsol-Honda will appear with Marc Márquez and Joan Mir for the next two years; therefore Pol Espargaró will return to KTM’s MotoGP project after two years.
The 31-year-old Spaniard has experienced many disappointments at HRC in a year and a half. He would like more grip on the rear wheel, but Marc Márquez is longing for more feel with the front tyre. To date, Honda engineers have not found the right balance for the Honda RC213V due to the opposing desires of the stars.
The 2013 Moto2 World Champion also misses the family atmosphere at KTM, the direct support from CEO Stefan Pierer and CEO Hubert Trunkenpolz and the unbroken friendship with Pit Beirer, who was just as happy about Pol’s third place in Qatar 2022 as he was about second place place of his KTM factory pilot Brad Binder. At Honda, Pol Espargaró apparently feels cut off from communication.
This means that three of the four MotoGP seats for the 20213 season are occupied at KTM: with Brad Binder and Jack Miller at Red Bull-KTM and Pol Espargaró at Tech3, where the combative Spaniard drove the M1-Yamaha for three years from 2014 to 2016 .
Then Pol Espargaró switched to the KTM factory team, because at Yamaha the factory team was staffed permanently with Rossi and Lorenzo and there were no chances of promotion.
In 2020, in his fourth and final season for the Austrians, Pol Espargaró has claimed five third places and two pole positions in 14 Grands Prix on the KTM RC16, including at the finale in Valencia, as KTM supported him to the last despite the HRC contract 100 percent lap of the last race – also with new development parts. Pol thanked him with fifth place in the world championship.
At Repsol-Honda, Pol already feels cut off from further development on the first weekend in June. Equipment like the new swingarm and chassis that Marc Márquez used recently was entrusted to Stefan Bradl and Taka Nakagami at his home GP of all places.
He hopes that KTM will sign him again for 2023, the Andorran by choice revealed a week ago at the Mugello GP.
Who will get fourth place in MotoGP from KTM after Binder, Miller and Pol Espargaró (at Tech3) is open.
Raúl Fernández is in contact with WithU-RNF-Aprilia, Remy Gardner would still be welcome at KTM, but so far the rift between the Austrians and his manager Paco Sanchez has not been resolved.