The key objective of victory in the Qatar Grand Prix has escaped on the most beautiful for the pilot of the Honda official Pol Espargaró, the latest victim of Enea Bastianini’s amazing comeback. The Catalan, leading the race up to four laps from the end, did not contain the attack of Rimini’s Ducati Gresini, even finishing long at the braking point of the first corner. In this way, in addition to having lost the leadership, the Spaniard also returned to the track behind the KTM of South African Brad Binder, thus arriving 3rd at the finish in front of his brother Aleix, riding the Aprilia.
Interviewed by Sky Sport MotoGP immediately after the display of the checkered flag, Espargaró commented on his performance as follows: “It was a difficult race – explained the 30-year-old – I knew the tires would reach the limit at the end. The strategy was to stay behind, saving tires and gasoline, but I found myself first and I was fast, so I took my step. I felt ready to win, but in the end the tires were really finished. I started to lose the rear one in the right turns as the front started to close. When Aeneas passed me I wanted to keep up with him – he added – but his wake caught me in braking and I was unable to brake the bike. I went long and Brad passed me, but the final position is still positive. But the message is even stronger: we are back and we are strong. Honda has not just one rider, but two, who can fight for the world title. We didn’t expect to be so fast at the start. However, I ran out of tires before finishing the race. This is something I had taken into account before starting. The problem was, I never got in the lead last year. I saw myself there and I wanted to show that I could be there. I went too fast too soon – he concluded – but starting the season with a third place is great. Now let’s see if Mandalika will do just as well. This bike is made exactly the way I like it. I don’t like this track, I don’t usually go fast here, there was never the grip I was comfortable with. Instead, even with these problems, I still went fast. In the race, I didn’t drive to the limit with the risk of crashing every corner. I had a margin, and it was great ”.
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