2023-09-21 10:51:33
Pol Espargaró was one of the first MotoGP riders to arrive at the Buddh International Circuit on Wednesday. Since then he has circled the 5.010 km route several times: “I walked the route twice yesterday and jogged again this morning,” Pol reported on Thursday.
His first conclusion was entirely positive. “To be honest, I think we were a bit too critical before we came here,” admitted the GASGAS Tech3 driver with a smile. «I think it’s much better than we all expected. When it comes to security, there are definitely a few things that can be improved. But there are places on all routes in the world where we would like to see improvements. I’m at home at the Circuit de Catalunya and there are places there that we’d like to change – and it’s one of the best circuits in the world. I believe that all circuits need to improve something because the bikes are getting a little faster every year. The top speed and the corner speed become higher, which is why you fall even at higher speeds and reach the track limits much faster.
Of course, you first have to wait and see what it will look like on the Buddh International Circuit, or BIC for short, in a racing situation and in the event of crashes. After his first impressions of the GP track in Greater Noida near Delhi, the 32-year-old Catalan reassured: “It’s no riskier than other places. I would say there is nothing really critical, but there are certainly some areas that could be improved. As I said, I think we were too critical beforehand.”
The 2013 Moto2 world champion went one step further: “If you look at the layout, it can be one of the most entertaining tracks of the year. It’s up and down, the corners are quite different, there are some banked corners too – it’s something different compared to what we’re used to and it looks like it’s going to be fun.”
What presents the biggest challenge on an unknown route, such as choosing a line or finding the braking points? “I think it’s a little bit of everything,” said Pol Espargaró. «The good thing here is that you have fairly long straight sections between the curves. So you have time to see that the curve is coming. I remember the first time in Qatar, it was quite difficult with so many corners that had to be approached blindly. It was very difficult to understand at what speed you could drive into the corners.”
The Spaniard expects fewer difficulties on the BIC, with its eight right-hand and five left-hand bends: “It’s good here because you can see every corner as soon as you come out of the previous one. There may be one or two corners that need to be learned because things are going up there, but overall I think the learning process will be much faster. I’ve already done quite a few laps on the track and I know more or less what to expect.”
The temperatures around 35 degrees combined with the high humidity of 65 percent are another challenge of the first Indian GP; At least the MotoGP pilots already have experience with this. “I checked the forecasts in advance and was worried, but here we have now seen that the temperatures are no higher than in Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand, for example,” said Pol Espargaró. «It’s pretty similar, the humidity is high and I drink a lot of water throughout the day. But that’s a normal thing for these Asian races.”
World Championship standings after 24 of 40 races:
1. Bagnaia, 283 Punkte. 2. Martin 247. 3. Bezzecchi 218. 4. Binder 173. 5. Aleix Espargaró 160. 6. Zarco 147. 7. Marini 135. 8. Viñales 128. 9. Alex Márquez 108. 10. Miller 104. 11. Quartararo 85. 12. Morbidelli 68. 13. Oliveira 65. 14. Augusto Fernández 58. 15. Rins 47. 16. Di Giannantonio 43. 17. Nakagami 35. 18. Pedrosa 32. 19. Marc Márquez 31. 20. Bastianini 25. 21. Raúl Fernández 22. 22. Savadori 9. 23. Folger 9. 24. Pol Espargaró 8. 25. Pirro 5. 26. Mir 5. 27. Petrucci 5. 28. Stefan Bradl 5.
Constructors’ World Championship:
1. Ducati, 416 Punkte. 2. KTM 234. 3. Aprilia 218. 4. Yamaha 105. 5. Honda 105.
Team World Cup:
1. Prima Pramac Racing, 394 Punkte. 2. Mooney VR46 Racing 353. 3. Ducati Lenovo Team 318. 4. Aprilia Racing 288. 5. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 277. 6. Monster Energy Yamaha 153. 7. Gresini Racing 151. 8. CryptoDATA RNF 91. 9. LCR Honda 85. 10. GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3, 75. 10. Repsol Honda 36.
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