POL ESpargaro SAYS HE WAS “WAY TOO SLOW” AFTER SILVERSTONE RETURN

Pol Espargaro described his return to MotoGP at Silverstone as a difficult outing that left him with little satisfaction despite scoring points. Recalled as a KTM test rider drafted into Tech3’s lineup in place of Maverick Vinales, the Spaniard finished 14th at the chequered flag before moving up to 13th after Fabio Quartararo received a penalty. With seven riders crashing out and Raul Fernandez winning, Espargaro still ended up 41 seconds behind the race winner.

Speaking about the race, Espargaro said he struggled to stay confident and on the bike as the session unfolded. “No [it doesn't mean something], points in this situation where everyone crashed,” he said, adding that the conditions made it hard to maintain rhythm. “I mean, it was not easy to stay on the bike. And if my confidence was not so high already, seeing each lap one guy on the floor did not make it better.”

He was blunt about his own pace, stressing that his lap times were far from where he needed them to be. “But honestly, I was way too slow. Way, way, way too slow,” Espargaro said. He explained that the time away from riding at Silverstone, combined with the difference between the bikes he has been testing, contributed to the challenge. “It's been a long time since I rode here. I do not ride a 1000 bike [due to testing the 850] and what I didn't want this weekend was to make a mistake.”

Espargaro also pointed to the mental load of returning to a 1000cc machine and having to process “a lot of inputs” that felt too fast. “I did not, but for sure I was way, way too slow. So, if I race the next one in Aragon, I believe that would be much better because the confidence is growing and my body and my brain need to think about what happened this weekend, a lot of inputs were too fast.”

When asked whether he had been extra cautious due to the severe tyre drop expected after the Sprint, he joked that conserving tyres was not really part of his plan. “I'm not on the level or the mood of conserving the tyre. I'm way too slow. I saw on the out-lap everyone doing the fuel consumption eco lap, and I was flat out because I was so slow that I didn't even need to do it!”

Despite the overall distance from the front, Espargaro said he still had moments to race. He noted that he was fighting with Toprak in the closing stages, but the gap to the leaders remained large. “I arrived 40 seconds off the leader. I felt sorry because I was fighting with Toprak in the last laps and that was embarrassing [for us], so far away. But anyway, we had a bit of fun at least, both of us.”

Looking ahead, Espargaro suggested the experience would help him build confidence for the next opportunity, while also acknowledging the situation around Vinales. “I think if I keep going, everything is going to be better. If not, that’s alright because it would mean that Maverick will come back.”

Beyond his own performance, Espargaro used the weekend to reflect on the gap between the current 1000cc MotoGP package and the KTM 850cc bike he has been testing. He said the speed of the category stood out immediately. “The lap times yesterday were insane. So, every year the 1000 bike is better, it's faster, together with these engines that are crazily fast.” He added that switching between machines helps underline the extremity of MotoGP’s current machinery: “You need to step to another bike and go back to the 1000 to realise how crazy this category is.”

KTM’s other rider, Pedro Acosta, led the team’s charge at Silverstone, finishing fifth—35 seconds ahead of Espargaro.