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Of the three winter tests, Qatar has proved to be the toughest for KTM. Pol Espargarò and Bradley Smith had to decide on which frame to use for the start of the season, but the problems came in the shape of the engine and the electronics, not in terms of reliability, as the Spaniard completed a race simulation with no trouble, but in terms of performance.
In Losail the Austrian manufacturer's two riders finished up more than two seconds off the pace. Not an encouraging result, but a perfectly understandable one for a bike that is making its debut in the reigning class.
"We were testing a lot of new parts, and I think this is probably the most difficult circuit for us - comments Espargarò - I believe here we are a bit further away from where we want to be, but we just focused on making long runs with used tires, and to analyze what was happening with the bike. We have good ideas but for sure the lap times could be better. Right now we want to focus more on the race. We’re still missing some acceleration and compared with the other factory bikes still something in the corners. We're okay with the brakes, but we lose some time with the traction and the electronics."
Smith is slightly happier, and was slightly quicker (one tenth) than Pol.
"I'm pleased with our progress, we were able to improve another 2.5 seconds - he underlines - We were working with the mapping and the electronics, and we made some good progress, especially in the electronics. We now have something that is a lot more consistent and good over the race distance with all tires, so everybody did a really good job. Looking at the lap times, we have to find another half a second. We’re close to the two guys in front but then there’s a gap to the next group, and that’s where we want to be if we want to fight for points.”
