POL ESPARGARO SAYS HE’S ADAPTING HIS KTM RIDING “OUT OF FEAR” AT MISANO

Pol Espargaro has opened up about the mental and technical challenge of stepping in for Tech3 at the San Marino Grand Prix, admitting that he is adapting his riding “out of fear” while riding KTM’s MotoGP bike in Maverick Viñales’ absence.

Viñales is missing the Misano weekend as he continues to recover from a shoulder problem. The issue traces back to qualifying for the 2025 German Grand Prix, when he suffered a fracture of the greater tubercle of the humerus along with ligament damage and a supraspinatus impingement. Espargaro’s stand-in role has been required again this weekend after checks during the summer break confirmed Viñales also has a small tear in the infraspinatus muscle, a continuation of the earlier injury. Viñales previously underwent surgery in July last year, and he later had a screw inserted that was removed this March after it became loose. While it has been reported that Viñales did not want season-ending surgery when the infraspinatus issue was first identified, his recovery has still been slow.

Tech3 have therefore had to rely on Espargaro for a third consecutive round after Silverstone and MotorLand Aragón, with the team waiting to see when Viñales might be able to return. Viñales is hoping to be passed fit to race at the Red Bull Ring next week, but Espargaro is preparing for the possibility that he will be needed again in Austria.

Speaking to AS, Espargaro described how the demands of his current schedule—riding the 1,000cc RC16 for Tech3 while also working on KTM’s 850cc project for 2027—are complicating his ability to find consistent braking references. He explained that the different top speeds and the way the bike delivers speed into the braking zone make it difficult to judge exactly where to slow down.

“With the 850, you arrive very fast, and for a rider, it’s practically impossible to identify the speeds, whether you’re going 320 [km/h] instead of 340, [km/h],” Espargaro said. “That’s practically impossible, and that changes the braking references a lot.”

He added that the engine’s inertia is another factor that affects how quickly he can interpret what the bike is doing and then translate that into fast lap times on Friday. “The problem I’m having is that I’m not able to interpret this quickly enough to be fast on Friday,” he said. “And now that I’m getting used to this bike, I’m going to have to do it all over again with the 850.”

Espargaro’s comments also highlighted the fear-driven approach he is forced into when braking. He said that because he expects to arrive faster, he starts anticipating the mistake—meaning he brakes earlier than he would normally, which can then create a chain reaction through the bike’s braking and weight-transfer behavior.

“Out of fear, I know I’m going to arrive much faster, so I anticipate it,” Espargaro explained. “I anticipate the mistake, because if I brake at the point where I think I’ll have to, I’ll usually run wide.”

He described how his workaround can lead to braking too early, then having to adjust again mid-braking, which disrupts the intended weight transfer. “So, what I do is anticipate the braking, and I anticipate it too much, and I always end up lacking braking distance or releasing the front brake and braking again,” he said. “That breaks the entire weight transfer chain, and you don’t put enough weight on the front axle.”

According to Espargaro, the result is that the front end may feel glued during the initial braking phase, but then the bike’s nose rises when he stops braking, and because he doesn’t repeat the braking force in the same way, he cannot complete the full braking range consistently. “So, you’re working with a suspension height that isn’t the same as if you were braking from start to finish at the same speed,” he added. “And that causes [the front tyre to] lock up, and there are a lot of problems.”

After this week’s Misano race, Espargaro is scheduled to travel to Mugello for a two-day test with KTM’s 850cc bike for 2027. He then expects to head to the Red Bull Ring as well, with KTM likely to call on him again if Viñales is not ready for the Austrian Grand Prix.

The weekend also sits within KTM’s broader 2027 planning. MotoGP will run a second official in-season 2027 Pirelli tyre test at the Red Bull Ring on the Monday after the Austrian GP, and it will be only the second time that full-time riders staying with the same manufacturer in 2027 get to test an 850cc bike and Pirelli tyres. KTM’s 2027 line-up is also set to change, with Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio joining the Austrian brand’s factory effort, while Luca Marini is expected to move to Tech3. Espargaro’s role across both the current RC16 and the incoming 850cc era underlines how tightly his schedule is tied to KTM’s transition—while also shaping the way he has to ride when he is asked to step in for Viñales.