The younger of the Espargaro brothers and the elder of the Marquez brothers have been rivals since they took their first steps; initially in the races in Catalonia, then passing through the circuits of all Spain and then ending up in the international scene, where they shared the track in the world championship both in the then 125cc class and in Moto2.
Last year, Pol Espargaro arrived in the HRC garage, in one of the most agitated moments for the golden winger, especially for the injury of Marc Marquez, remedied almost two years ago in the opening round of the 2020 season. In his first season as a Honda rider, Polyccio finished in 12th position in the general classification, conquering a podium at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, won by Marc Marquez himself. The multiple world champion finished the year in seventh position, 42 points more than his team-mate and after being on the podium four times, including three wins.
Both are preparing to get to the pre-season tests that will begin in just under 20 days in Malaysia, although Marc’s presence is not yet confirmed, due to the diplopia problems that he brings with him from the November accident that occurred during a workout.
Pol Espargaro, who had always seen Marquez from afar as they raced for two different teams, had the opportunity to analyze his data and thus changed his point of view. In some statements to Motorsport.com he says: “I had always raced with Marc, but being on equal terms, in the same team, gave me a more real perspective than I could have before”.
“There are circumstances where I was surprised at how fast it could get and others where I expected it to be faster,” explains the Catalan before going into detail. “For example, in very high temperatures, with little grip, I thought Marc needed to lean on the rear a lot, like me, to go fast. But I realized it was the other way around. It needs little grip to go fast, and this is very difficult ”.
Pol spent the winter looking for these feelings of lack of grip to try to overcome them when he gets back on the RC213V: “It’s a technique, now I understand why he trains a certain way and why he does what he does. Being his teammate makes me understand a little better the techniques he uses to go faster ”.
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