Repsol Honda Team rider Pol Espargaro spoke about Honda one of the most difficult seasons in its long MotoGP history.
But what’s wrong with Honda during the first half of the 2022 MotoGP season?
Espargaro’s decision does not go as expected; in fact, with no wins and just two podium finishes in an entire season, it can be fairly said that his decision was wrong.
“The bike at the start of the season and the current machine we ride have nothing to do with it. Neither in handling nor technically.” Espargaro said.
“I didn’t crash once all preseason! Then if you crash a lot, and they happen even when you’re driving slowly, then something is clearly not working right, that’s a clear sign that something isn’t right.
“And adjusting the bike is not so easy. There are a lot of components that don’t depend on us, for example the tyres.
“I’m really not pointing the finger at Michelin now, but we haven’t been able to adapt like the other manufacturers have.” Espargaro added.
The four Honda MotoGP riders ended up in a nightmare after the first Grand Prix in Qatar. They left behind the top teams so far.
During the Motul TT Assen, Espargaro who lives near the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya quite after FP2 and dind’t take the race on Saturday and Sunday.
“The biggest problem is our reaction time to get things adjusted. We are very slow. We have problems, we found them, but we can’t test new parts.” Espargaro said.
“After Qatar we just tried another frame, very similar to the one we had, and the same goes for a new swingarm. That’s all. In such a difficult situation you just have to be able to act quickly and adjust things immediately, but we have nothing to test to improve.” he added.
The Spaniard will return to KTM in 2023 and will be supported by his former boss Herve Poncharal. However, there has been no official announcement of this reports as of yet.
