Pol Espargaro was ‘happy’ with his MotoGP test in Jerez, ‘close to Taka’

Pol Espargaro enjoys a full day of MotoGP testing on Monday after a frustrating race in Jerez; “We have performed well, I was close to Taka who has been the strongest Honda this weekend, so I am happy.”

Pol Espargaro struggled to hide his disappointment after finishing tenth in the Spanish MotoGP on Sunday, claiming he battled in every area except braking and revealing that the range of Honda packages on the grid added to his ‘confusion’ in learning his new bike.

He was happy, however, after completing a massive 89 laps at the Monday test, despite two falls, and finishing a competitive sixth on the final timesheets.

The Spaniard was also fewer than two tenths of a second behind Takaaki Nakagami, who finished fourth in the race.

While Nakagami has returned to last year’s chassis with LCR teammate Alex Marquez, Espargaro and Repsol Honda teammate Marc Marquez raced the 2021 version.

Espargaro is not believed to have tried the 2020 chassis on Monday, but he did have a variety of other new components scattered among three bikes, including aerodynamics, electronics, and ergonomics.

“Honda kept me busy today!” Espargaro said. “We have worked on many things, electronics, aero, ergonomics – they seem simple or small topics but when you’re still new to a bike they can make a big difference together.

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“We have performed well today, I was close to Taka who has been the strongest Honda this weekend, so I am happy.

“I always say, even if the things we test work or not, we are learning. It’s a process we need to go through. We need to be open minded and keep trying things and don’t be scared of mistakes or problems. It’s a matter of laps, understanding, experience.

“We have learned a lot today and it has been very good for me to ride and try things without the pressure of a race weekend.

“Putting one lap together with a fresh soft tyre is still taking some time, I think it’s a problem for all riders that have changed bikes because you need to know a bike well to take it to the limit.

“Now we look to Le Mans.”

Last year at Le Mans, Espargaro’s Repsol predecessor Alex Marquez, who was 15th fastest on Monday, took Honda’s first podium of the season.

Following the strain of a race weekend and two big falls, Marc Marquez withdrew from testing after 7 laps due to his physical condition.

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