In Qatar, Pol Espargaro narrowly misses his first MotoGP victory, but sees himself clearly on course for it: RC213V, vintage 2022, is his bike of choice
Honda factory rider Pol Espargaro may not have won the 2022 MotoGP season opener in Qatar, but still sees himself as one of the big winners. With a rocket start from sixth on the grid, he took the lead right from the first corner and went on to complete 17 of the 22 race laps in the lead.
With five laps to go, Espargaro was unable to counter the attack of eventual winner Enea Bastianini (Gresini-Ducati). Riding the soft rear tyre on his Honda, he struggled with diminishing grip in the final laps. Bastianini, who was riding the medium rear tyre, easily got past and won. Espargaro, however, sees the positives.
“I am really happy. Sure, when you lead the race for so long, third place at the end is not what you want. But overall, Honda and I sent a clear signal today, which is that it’s not just Marc Marquez who can win with a Honda,” said Espargaro.
“After so many years of Honda having only one winning rider, this is just great,” said the Spaniard, who is in his second season with the Japanese factory team. Last year he made it to the podium once (P2 in Misano 2 behind teammate Marquez).
Over the winter, HRC, Honda’s motorsport division, redesigned and rebuilt the RC213V from the ground up. The 2022 version of the bike is now the Honda that Espargaro had wanted when he came from KTM in the winter of 2020/21.
“Clearly, this is the bike I was looking for. I wouldn’t say this is the bike I was expecting when I came to Honda. But is definitely the bike I wanted. And by that I mean one that rides clean,” he says.
“You don’t have to be overly aggressive with this bike and risk a lot to get lap time and results,” Espargaro explains, pointing out, “I haven’t crashed with this bike since I started testing. “
However, the fact that he would lead 17 of 22 laps straight away on the 2022 Honda’s race debut was not something Espargaro had planned for. “I can assure you that my strategy was completely different,” he laughs, explaining, “In fact, I had planned exactly the opposite. I actually just wanted to stay with the leading group as much as possible, on the one hand to save the tyres, and on the other hand to save a bit of fuel.”
“But because I was in the lead and fast,” Espargaro continues, “I blew a lot of fuel and also strained the tyres more than I wanted to.” In his defence, he says: “I just felt comfortable and didn’t worry about what was happening. I just wanted to show that I am fast, that I am a factory Honda rider and that Honda is back. That’s what today was all about. I would have loved to lead the race until something blew up. “
The rear tyre on the 44 Honda did not explode. But when Bastianini went on the attack at the start/finish line with five laps to go, Espargaro went off the track in turn 1 because he simply had no more grip. “I caught his slipstream and was going so fast that I saw myself already in the gravel. I just managed to brake the bike off the track, but my tyre was completely at the end.”
As Espargaro made his diversions, KTM rider Brad Binder got past and eventually finished second. The Honda rider finished third, 1.3 seconds behind, but can live very well with that. Because even though it hasn’t quite worked out yet with his first MotoGP victory, Espargaro’s optimism is high that the direction is absolutely right.
“The realisation that now not only one rider can win with the Honda is great for the whole Honda squad. Because it means that you can also achieve something with a different riding style [than the Marquez style]. So Honda deserves a lot of credit for the work they have done,” said Espargaro, who finished two positions ahead of Marquez in the season opener.
The second race on the 2022 MotoGP calendar will take place on 20 March at the new circuit in Mandalika on Lombok in Indonesia. The first MotoGP riders tested there in mid-February and a certain Pol Espargaro set the best time on the 2022 Honda.
