MotoGP, Pol Espargarò: “I think too much and keep making mistakes, I’m nervous”

A twelfth place in qualifying, which doesn’t make Pol Espargarò happy. Yesterday the new Honda rider said he felt like a rookie on the RC213V, and today’s qualifying in Losail may have confirmed his feelings. Taka Nakagami did better than he did, arriving in the top session on Saturday, passing through the Q1, and Pecco Bagnaia’s gap from pole position is really tough, one second and one.

“I’m not happy. Today I couldn’t stop the bike, and I had too many things on my mind. I kept trying different things, different tires, and I thought too much, I pushed too hard, I made a mistake, and I got nervous, which made me make more mistakes. In the last lap, everything went a bit better. I thought I could improve again, but there wasn’t enough time. I’m still far from Nakagami, even though I felt some improvement on the second tire.”

How confident do you feel about the bike for tomorrow’s race? We saw a really fast and consistent Ducati.
“The Ducatis have been very strong, but we know they won’t be that fast in the race. In the second  qualifying, as mentioned, I felt good, and that’s why I say that tomorrow’s warm up will be crucial for me and, if everything goes well, I could have a good race. We’ll see how it goes and, if I’m among the best in the warm up, the race could be positive.”

You said that the warm up will be crucial. What are you looking for in particular to improve?
“The problem is that today I pushed really too much, especially in the first of qualifying. This isn’t the way to be faster. I’ll have to be calmer, and I’ll try to ride with a full tank to check my speed even in those conditions.”