Pol Espargaro causes a stir with the retreaded KTM RC16 on Spielberg Friday – defect in the afternoon prevents possible direct Q2 entry
The upgraded KTM RC16, which will be ridden by wildcard starter Pol Espargaro on the current MotoGP race weekend at the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, caused quite a stir on Friday. This applies both in terms of performance and appearance
Espargaro finished the first free practice session in the morning third fastest behind the two Pramac Ducati riders Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli. In the afternoon session, however, Espargaro had to park the prototype shortly after half-time with a technical defect. As a result, he only completed twelve laps in this session and finished P21 in the standings.
As far as the look of the new KTM is concerned, the swingarm with a jagged new aero element and a new exhaust stood out. Espargaro says of the eye-catching aero element: “It has an influence on the rear wheel in certain areas”, without giving away any details
On Thursday, Espargaro announced that the most important change to the further developed KTM RC16 “cannot be seen from the outside”. According to reports, a new engine expansion stage was also tested on Friday in combination with the new exhaust. However, Espargaro does not want to confirm this.
And Espargaro also does not want to go into detail about the cause of the defect in the afternoon. “There was a problem with the bike,” is all he can elicit when asked. With regard to the handling of the new KTM, he speaks of a “really good feeling”.
A technical issue puts @polespargaro Friday program on hold ⚠️AustrianGP pic. twitter.com/On0FdDdRcn
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) August 16, 2024
And the KTM test rider also reveals that he was faster with the new development than Ducati factory rider Francesco Bagnaia was with the Ducati GP24 on his record lap on Friday afternoon during the private tests in Spielberg, which took place in the run-up to the race weekend.
“We rode 350 laps [during testing] and were under the record that ‘Pecco’ set today,” said Espargaro. There were “no problems”. Friday was a different story. “Actually,” says the KTM test rider, ‘I wanted to really go for it in the afternoon, but unfortunately both of my bikes had problems’.
“But hey, that’s the way it is. When you have a lot of new things on the bike, it’s normal that there can be defects. That’s why things have to be tested. But I think we were particularly unlucky today,” said Espargaro.
Espargaro will have to battle with his KTM colleagues Jack Miller and Pedro Acosta, among others, in the fight for a subsequent Q2 entry on Saturday morning. Acosta had three crashes on Friday on his red Tech3-GasGas RC16, but still just missed out on a direct Q2 entry
