The Spanish rider, who will return to KTM with the GasGas Tech3 for the 2023 season, said it was difficult to accept the team’s decision to suspend development of his bike before his departure.
Espargaro has struggled this season, finishing 16th in the standings with a best finish of third at the season opener in Qatar, and has repeatedly stated his unhappiness with Honda’s decision to no longer supply him with new parts after news of his return at KTMs.
He said he only felt like a factory Honda rider for a year, due to a completely redundant 2022, in which he faced “the same problems every single weekend”.
Asked if he believed that Honda’s decision not to supply him with new parts was due to the fact that the Japanese were looking more at the short term, Pol replied: “That’s how I worked at KTM. At KTM, up to Valencia, I tried new things “.
“In Valencia it was the first time I tried the rear lowerer for them, which is now a big thing, so in the last race I tried the rear device for them and helped them improve it.”
“They’re different ways of working. I think what I’m leaving is wrong, I really think so, but it’s their way of doing things. I’m nobody to tell them how to do things, I’m just a rider riding a motorcycle, that’s all”.
“It’s hard to accept, but it’s not my brand, it’s not my bike, I’m just a guy they pay to ride a bike, that’s all. I do what they want.”
“I certainly don’t like it, and it seems to me that they wasted their time and money on me, because I could have been motivated and at full capacity, making results and enjoying things more.”
“But ultimately, I don’t know if they don’t do it because they don’t want to or because they can’t, so that’s where I’m at now.”
Speaking at the Valencia weekend, his last with the team, Espargaro expressed his disappointment with his time with the team and said he was “sad” about the situation.
He added, “I’ve felt like I’ve been a Honda rider for a year. This year has been completely redundant, with the same problems every single weekend, every race, and really struggling.”
Pol Espargaro, Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing
Photo by: GasGas Factory Racing
“When you’re in trouble, it’s usually the way to find a solution. Not all riders have the same riding style and therefore you have to adapt the bike to each rider. This is the way to improve, but that wasn’t the case.”
“So I’m sad about this situation because I think I have huge potential. I was one of the best in the pre-season and also in Qatar, but from there the results started to drop because some normal problems appeared.”
“This is MotoGP, it’s never the same. You have to keep improving and doing things to be better, but we haven’t done it. Well, I haven’t done it, in my side of the garage.”
“That’s why I keep struggling so much and it ends up like this. Which is sad, because I believe I have potential and I hope I can show it in the future.”
Espargaro said the two years spent at Honda were the most difficult of his career and also had repercussions on his private life.
“You learn a lot from good things, but I think you learn even more from bad things: how to handle negative and stressful situations. I can say that these two years have been the most difficult of my sports career, because it’s not the same get negative results by wearing normal colors on a normal bike”.
“Doing bad results with these colors is very painful. Honestly, in my private life, this affects a lot. I have two daughters at home who are two years old and enjoying them while doing these results was very difficult for me”.
“Above all you learn that the good times you have to enjoy them, because they are short and fast, while the bad ones hurt a lot because everyone sees you. So I hope that the next two years the good things will come and I will be able to enjoy them a little more thanks to these two years”.
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