POL ESPARGARO CALLS SILVERSTONE DEFICIT “EMBARRASSING” AFTER 13TH

Pol Espargaro left Silverstone with mixed feelings after finishing 13th in the Grand Prix as a stand-in for Maverick Viñales. While the result was three points better than expected for a replacement, the KTM test rider described the overall performance as disappointing, pointing to a massive gap to the front. Raul Fernandez won the race, and Espargaro crossed the line more than 41 seconds behind.

The race itself was chaotic, with seven riders forced out by crashes. Espargaro said it was difficult simply to stay on the bike over more than 20 laps, adding that his confidence was not where it needed to be. “It was not easy to keep the bike on the track,” he said after the Grand Prix. “My confidence wasn’t particularly high. Seeing a different rider on the ground every lap didn’t help.”

Despite the struggles, he managed to work his way through the field in the aftermath of other incidents. He finished 14th at the chequered flag, but moved up to 13th after benefiting from a penalty handed to Yamaha factory rider Fabio Quartararo. Espargaro also highlighted two key battles: he beat Superbike world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez, and he noted that he had at least gained places in a crash-heavy race.

Looking specifically at the pace, Espargaro was blunt about what went wrong. “I was much too slow,” he said. He explained that it had been a long time since he last rode at Silverstone, and that he had also not been on the 1000cc machine for a while. “I wanted not to make mistakes this weekend. And I did that. But of course I was much too slow.”

He also addressed expectations for the next opportunity. “I expect to be much stronger if I get to race in Aragon,” he said. “My confidence is growing, and my body and my head are processing what happened this weekend. If I continue, then everything will get better. But if I don’t get to ride, that would be a positive sign, because it would mean Maverick is back.”

On the technical side, Espargaro said tyre management was not the main issue. He acknowledged that tyre wear has been a recurring topic at Silverstone, particularly in the long, fast corners, and that in the sprint the softer tyre could lead to very slow laps near the end. However, he insisted he did not have the pace to think about saving tyres. “I was much too slow to think about preserving the tyres,” he said. He added that when he went to the grid he saw others trying to save fuel and riding in an “eco mode,” but he rode at full throttle because his race pace was so low that he did not need to save fuel.

Finally, Espargaro summed up the weekend as a painful learning experience. “I came into the finish with a 40-second gap. In the last laps I was fighting with Toprak. It was embarrassing,” he said. “But at least we had some fun.” He concluded: “It was a disaster. We have to use this experience for the future.”