Pol Espargaro is still not fully fit again after his serious accident at the start of the 2023 MotoGP season – how he intends to manage this and what KTM plans for him
For Pol Espargaro, the MotoGP winter break is all about recovery. After his serious accident at the start of the season in Portimao, in which he suffered a bruised lung and several fractured vertebrae, the Spaniard is not yet back to full fitness
“My body still needs to heal,” says the Tech 3 GasGas rider. “I realize that in some phases of the race or even on the one fast lap, I’m not able to do certain things. My physique is not at the level I would like it to be. I’m really struggling.”
“In Malaysia, for example, my rhythm in the last six laps was not determined by my driving, but by my physical condition,” he recalls.
“I lost a lot of time in the third sector, for example to Augusto. Under normal circumstances that would not have been the case, I would have been much faster. It’s true that I feel like that especially when the conditions are tough, when it’s hot and the humidity is high.”
In order to master such races like he used to, he would first have to fully regain his physical fitness. “Time has been too short for that so far. I’m still weak in some muscle groups. And I also need to catch up on cardio training,” summarizes Espargaro.
Espargaro: No time to heal completely
After his accident, he had to spend some time in hospital and take a long forced break, during which he was unable to train as usual. “When I came back, I wasn’t in good shape as far as that was concerned.”
“I didn’t really have time to heal up completely and then train properly. This process takes a few months, and I didn’t have that,” explains the Spaniard.
His motivation to use the winter season intensively to regain his old strength is all the greater – even if he has lost his place as a regular rider in MotoGP for 2024. At Tech-3-GasGas, he will be replaced by Moto2 champion Pedro Acosta. Espargaro will act as a replacement and test rider.
In the meantime, there had been speculation about the Spaniard switching to Respol-Honda. However, this rumor quickly vanished into thin air. In an interview with MotoGP.com, KTM Head of Motorsport Pit Beier explains how they managed to keep Espargaro despite the loss of his regular rider position.
“We have a long friendship with Pol. Making the decision to replace him was absolutely not easy for us,” emphasizes Beirer. It was naturally a disappointment for Espargaro at first, but KTM did a lot of convincing.
“We then sat down together again in Mattighofen to talk about how we wanted to go into the future together. We made it clear to him how much we needed him to drive the project forward and take this final decisive step. And that went very well,” reveals the Austrian.
KTM plans long-term with Pol Espargaro
So Espargaro has also made friends with his new role: “I have the feeling that Pol now understands how important he is for us. It wasn’t something we said at the moment to please him. No, we have a long-term plan with him and I am very happy that he has accepted it.”
“It was certainly not his dream scenario, but his career is not over,” said Beirer. “As I said, we are very happy with him and proud that he will remain part of our team and our family in the future. “
When asked about the exact plans with Espargaro, the KTM boss says: “With him, we have one of the fastest test riders ever. He will make our test program much stronger. We are also planning one or two wildcards with him. He will continue to spend a lot of time on the track and testing.”
“But we have also looked further into the future. Because at some point, he may no longer be a test driver. Even then, he will continue to play a role in our organization. So our program with him covers many more years.”
“But next year, we will continue to focus on driving with him. That’s what he wants to do. He and his body now have a little more time to get back to 100 percent. Because he’s not there yet. He is still suffering from the consequences of the accident and yet he is doing incredible things on the bike.”
“But he still needs a little more time. I think by the middle of next year he will understand better whether he still has that fire in him to return as a full-time rider. We have not made a final decision on that. “
