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Pol Espargarò scored his first eight points as a Repsol Honda rider in the opening Grand Prix of the season. Starting twelfth on the grid at Losail, the Spaniard climbed four places, setting a good strong pace and finishing the Grand Prix in eighth position.
It was your first race on the Honda and it's an eighth place, what do you think?
"It was a race of two halves. The start of the race, honestly, wasn't good, because it took me too long to pick up my pace and then I lost precious time. Halfway through the race, I was one of the faster riders and I'm happy but also angry because I feel I could have done better. But it's still only the first race so we have to look at it from this perspective and I needed to finish it. A crash wouldn't have been good at all. I gained a lot of information. and now we can aim for next weekend in the same place and better understand our potential. Obviously I am not satisfied with the position, starting twelfth did not help and in the first laps I had difficulty adapting to the race pace, I started at +3 seconds from the first and in the whole race I lost another two seconds from Vinales. Overall I think we did well, I didn't crash, I finished the race and I got points. I also did some overtaking, I improved my lap times, the speed was there. I am convinced that with a better qualifying we will be competitive from the next race ".
Is there anything about the bike that you think needs to be changed at the technical level for the next race?
"I'm definitely still getting to grips with the bike, as it is also true that I learn more about the bike during the race than during the tests. The race was also important to understand and improve some problems encountered during testing and I'm proud of the work that we are doing with the team. It is clear that we are not satisfied, our goal is to fight for the title and it is also for this reason that the next qualifying sessions will be very important. If I manage to be in the front rows, I think we will certainly do better. "
I heard you had some difficulties with the choice of the front tire, was this the problem in this race or is there something else?
"I don't want to call it a problem, but of course as I still have to get comfortable with the bike in the race, I spent the first six laps trying not to brake too hard to avoid making mistakes and crashing. After all, it's with sudden braking and by avoiding finishing wide when cornering that you make up time, but I think I've already learned a lot about the bike with this race. "
How much did you want to reach Aleix?
"(Laughs) I had to make up positions throughout the race, when I got behind Aleix the tire was already very worn. I tried to overtake on the straight but by now the race was ending and there was no way. My goal anyway is something completely different, I finished 5 seconds from the first and I would have liked to get a better position, but overall the race can be said to be positive and now we will work to do better in the next one ".
