Thanks to the 2022 Honda and his belief in himself, Pol Espargaro is brimming with confidence ahead of MotoGP debut in Mandalika, but puts his test best time in perspective
Pol Espargaro is one of the favourites for this weekend’s MotoGP debut in Mandalika, Indonesia. At the season opener in Qatar a fortnight ago, the Spaniard on the factory Honda led the race for a long time and ultimately finished third. He set the fastest time on the new Mandalika circuit during the winter test in February.
Espargaro is still waiting for his first MotoGP win. But with the 2022 Honda, it seems more achievable than ever. “This year is the first in which I feel I have a package for wins,” says the Spaniard, for whom the 2022 season will be his ninth in the premier class. P3 a fortnight ago in Qatar was his eighth podium. The first victory could come soon.
“I feel ready now. The bike suits me and I am faster than I have ever been before,” Espargaro brims with confidence. It’s something he’s had to draw on in recent years anyway, as he confesses.
“When you are in your ninth year but you haven’t achieved too much in terms of results, you need to have a strong belief in yourself. And the fact that I’ve been around for so long makes me believe that the teams also see something in me beyond race wins,” said the Honda factory rider.
Before joining Honda in the winter of 2020/21, Espargaro rode for four years in the KTM factory team, where he played a leading role in the development of the RC16. The younger brother of Aleix Espargaro spent his first three years in MotoGP (2014 to 2016) in a satellite team, namely Tech-3-Yamaha.
This weekend, then, the race will be held in Mandalika. The 4.3-kilometre track in the south of the island of Lombok has yet to see a MotoGP race. During the three-day test in February, the riders were able to get a first impression and do some basic work, such as finding the right gear ratio. Nevertheless, something changed between the test and the race weekend.
New asphalt has been laid on a large part of the track in recent weeks. In addition, MotoGP tyre supplier Michelin now has different rear tyres than it did in February. The carcass of the tyres used this weekend is harder.
“As far as tyre wear is concerned, we are basically starting from scratch,” Espargaro emphasises and therefore does not want to attach too much importance to his test best time: “For sure, it helps what we have done in the test. Still, I don’t really know what to expect yet because so many things are new. Hopefully we can quickly adapt to the conditions, as we did at the test. But I see a lot of candidates who could be in contention for the win, not just myself. “
