POL ESPARGARO GRABS P9 IN MISANO TO SECURE DIRECT Q2 AND EXPLAINS HIS RC16 CHANGES

Pol Espargaro delivered a standout performance in MotoGP qualifying practice at Misano Adriatico on Friday afternoon, surging to ninth place to secure direct passage into Q2. The KTM test rider—now 35—was only 0.530 seconds off the session’s benchmark set by Aprilia home hero Marco Bezzecchi. Espargaro’s pace also put him ahead of several KTM teammates, including Enea Bastianini in 11th and Brad Binder in 15th. Speedweek reported that his quick time came immediately behind Pedro Acosta, underlining how close the lap was to the very front.

After completing his run, Espargaro was greeted by a lively scene at the pit lane. Speedweek said team boss Pit Beirer and the crew were already waiting, and that his family joined in too—his daughter and his wife, Carlotta, arriving to embrace the younger of the Espargaro brothers.

Speaking immediately after the session, Espargaro struggled to find an explanation for how the lap came together. “I can not explain why and how this happened,” he said, laughing.

He then described the moment-to-moment feeling of the lap, including the shock of reaching a time he didn’t think was possible. “It was already crazy. When I did the first 1:30.8 lap, I thought, this can’t get any faster here,” Espargaro said. He added that he had told his crew chief, Manuel, that there was no more improvement left to find. “It was crazy—it felt so dangerous. I was in risk of crashing,” he explained.

Espargaro also detailed how the final stages of the lap unfolded with other riders in front of him. “Then I went back out with Pedro and suddenly Marc was right in front of Pedro. I just thought: behind Marc and Pedro—oh my God, save me!” he said. Despite the pressure, he called it “a great experience” and emphasized the emotional impact of riding behind the sport’s current and future leaders. “When you ride behind the present and the future of the MotoGP World Championship, it’s an incredible feeling,” he said, adding that as a former fan of the series, it felt “really sick” and “so unbelievable.”

Asked how he managed to produce such a lap, Espargaro pointed to the example set by Pedro. “Pedro brakes very late, he rides the lines but in such a clean way. So you just have to copy it,” he said. Speedweek added that the key was not only copying Acosta’s riding, but also adapting the bike: Espargaro said the way he used the RC16 no longer worked as the category changes year by year. He explained that he realized this in Aragon and, between Aragon and Misano, altered the “distance spacers” at the tank to sit further back on the bike—something he said he had “never” done before in his career.

He linked the change to braking and traction: “We have realized, that it helps us when braking. And it brings traction.” He also noted that from 2025 onward KTM has reduced downforce, including reducing the front wings and removing the “Dumbo wings” on the swingarm, meaning the riding style must change when less pressure is generated. “Schauen wir mal, ob ich es am Samstag auch weiter so zeigen kann,” he said, looking ahead to whether he can repeat the performance.