        GASGAS prepares to debut in MotoGP, and can already count on one sure thing. The squad will be headed up by Pol Espargar&ograve;, whose return to the KTM family - albeit as part of the GASGAS Factory Team - was announced along with the news that the Spanish brand would compete in the category. And so Pol&rsquo;s chapter with Honda comes to an end after just two seasons, a dream that ultimately brought disappointment, with the exception of a second place finish at Misano last year and a third at this year&rsquo;s opening Qatari round. Bierer: &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t chosen a second rider yet&rdquo;  &ldquo;Pol had some great years with KTM - comments his new Team Principal Herv&egrave; Poncharal - and was key when it came to developing the bike. The desire to work together was mutual, so it all came about naturally. I&rsquo;m sure that Pol will also be a perfect ambassador for GASGAS&rdquo;. The announcement about Espargar&ograve; sees another piece of the 2023 grid puzzle slot into place, but there are still points to be clarified. The second rider on the same GASGAS team for starters, who could be Miguel Oliveira, destined for the RNF team but still in the thoughts of KTM. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve made Miguel a new offer&rdquo;, admits Pit Beirer, &ldquo;and we think that he might be more easily convinced now that the GASGAS project has been unveiled&rdquo;. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP: a possible new Sprint Race for 2023       

The Spaniard is back in the orbit of KTM, which is keen to retain Miguel. Bierer: "We&rsquo;ve made him a new offer"

MotoGP: Pol Espargarò marries the GASGAS cause, together with Oliveira?

        Many people think that riders do very little to improve once they&rsquo;re off their bikes, or that they don&rsquo;t really need any type of training or parallel activity in order to race. On the contrary, they are athletes, more so than many others. The rider must prepare his/her body by following a training plan outside the paddock and eating a healthy diet. The diet of champions  Every meal is characterised by a specific food that is good for the individual rider. And the results can be seen on track. When the bike travels at those speeds, it moves and twitches, which means the rider is forced to follow suit and correct any erroneous movement. This can only be done if they are physically prepared, paying attention to the smallest details. Having a good diet ensures that a person&rsquo;s cardio-circulatory system is in perfect shape. Eating well also contributes to the overall rider/bike weight. Even a small weight saving can increase performance, and speed too, reduce the effort that the braking system need make during braking and reduce tyre stress. Aleix Espargaro: &ldquo;Nutrition is really important&rdquo; Let&rsquo;s take the example of the Espargar&oacute; brothers, who talked about their healthy diet on motogp.com. For three years now, Pol has been following a largely vegetable-based diet that focuses on water storage, so all those foods that contain a good quantity of water. Breakfast is often an avocado, or toast. Lunch might be legumes and quinoa, even before climbing on the bike, because they contain a lot of energy. At dinner time, he chooses to eat carbs, including pasta. Aleix also eats very structured meals. For breakfast, it&rsquo;s fruit, mainly bananas. Lunch involves plain rice. And then dinner is chicken and vegetables with just a dash of oil. &ldquo;I think that nutrition is really important at our level, it&rsquo;s our fuel. And I see it, in that if I get this aspect wrong, I don&rsquo;t feel 100%.&rdquo; Traslated by Heather Watson MOTOGP, PEDROSA: &ldquo;LORENZO MOTIVATED ME. I LEARNED A LOT FROM STONER&rdquo;       

A rider&rsquo;s health contributes to whether or not they win come Sunday and diet is a fundamental aspect when it comes to being quick off the mark

What does a MotoGP rider's diet look like?

        Without Marc Marquez, the Sachsenring circuit went from being favourable to more than challenging for the Honda, with only one of the four RC213V riders, Stefan Bradl, able to finish the race, albeit outside the points zone. Conditions were extreme for everyone, with unusually high temperatures, and this was clear to see from the faces of the exhausted podium sitters, but the Honda factory riders also faced other problems. Excessive overheating for Honda at the Sachsenring  The German test rider crossed the line sixteenth and admitted: &ldquo;I had a big issue with riding the bike in this heat&rdquo;. He goes on: &ldquo;After following people for the first few corners, I couldn&rsquo;t brake because my right hand, the lever, became so hot and I couldn&rsquo;t control the bike&rdquo;. At that point, he lost contact with the other riders: &ldquo;After a couple of laps, I had to drop back to get some fresh air for the bike and for my body. I just tried to finish the race, it was physically more than on the limit and I also have a burn on my right foot because it was so hot. It&rsquo;s not acceptable to have this situation.&rdquo; The reasons for Pol Espargar&oacute;&rsquo;s retirement  Pol Espargar&oacute;&rsquo;s situation was different, as he was also dealing with a physical issue after an incident during FP1: &ldquo;The ribs just need time to recover but putting more stress on them each day doesn&rsquo;t help. I tried to do what I could in the race, but the pain got worse and worse and with the heat, I was struggling to breathe. We also had a lot of heat on my right foot which added to the pain&rdquo;. The only solution was to retire, thus putting a premature end to a weekend that had already begun on the wrong foot. Translated by Heather Watson German GP, disaster for Honda at the Sachsenring: from riches to rags       

Honda put on a dismal display at the German track, with both riders citing overheating issues &nbsp;

Germany GP, Bradl: “Physically on the limit, I also got burned”

        When a moment is worth a thousand words. While the riders&rsquo; market is starting to heat up, the rider situation at Honda already appears clear. As confirmed by Marc Marquez yesterday, the Japanese manufacturer has started to test some new parts already today at Jerez, as it seeks the feedback of its two riders. Starting with number 93, who is surrounded every time he returns to the garage by Japanese engineers keen to have his initial impressions during a weekend that, at least on paper - considering the track &ndash; can be a good one for the Spaniard. Few spectators  It&rsquo;s a different situation on the other side of the garage, in Pol Espargar&oacute;&rsquo;s corner. The lack of Honda men on his side can be interpreted in different ways. On the one hand, it seems clear that Honda is listening predominantly to its captain, and on the other - in light of the market - Pol&rsquo;s position appears shakier than ever, despite the fact that the second factory Honda is not the most-sought after bike right now. Pecco Bagnaia&rsquo;s first impressions are also interesting, the Italian more worried about his bike than his shoulder. At the end of the session, he complained about a worsening of his sensations, though he didn&rsquo;t outwardly look to be in pain despite the recent injury. Fabio Di Giannantonio is also experiencing some physical discomfort, dealing with a painful right hand.  Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Bagnaia: &ldquo;My movement is limited, I&rsquo;ll have to manage that&rdquo;        

As the market begins to move, Pol appears excluded from the manufacturer&rsquo;s plans, while Marc steers the development of new components &nbsp;

Marquez guides development, Espargaró on the sidelines: the Honda situation

        What we saw at Mandalika was clearly not the same Honda we&rsquo;d admired two weeks ago in Qatar. The first signs emerged early on in the weekend and became increasingly evident as Marc Marquez suffered three crashes in two days, setbacks that in fact forced the eight-time champ to sit out the race. And so Pol Espargar&oacute; was tasked with flying the flag for the Japanese manufacturer, the Spaniard ultimately crossing the line in twelfth position, 33.5 seconds from the KTM of race winner, Miguel Oliveira. A result in stark contrast to the podium scored in Lusail. So, which is the real RC213V? "In my opinion, the Honda is one of the fastest bikes&rdquo;, comments Polyccio, during an interview with Sky Sport MotoGP at the end of the race. "At Jerez, the bike was almost dead, after the crash at Valencia. In Malaysia, I think we finished fourth, two tenths from first, when we would normally be slow. Then we finished first in the tests here at Mandalika. In Qatar I finished the race third. The Honda is strong, very strong, but we&rsquo;re lacking experience and need the tyres we chose for this year, not ones that were already used four years ago" continues the Spaniard, convinced that this step backwards has to do with the tyres with stiffer carcass that Michelin brought to Indonesia to deal with the high temperatures forecast over the weekend. "The bike is new and very different from a four-year old bike, and so the tyres need to be modern and suited to this type of bike&rdquo;, comments Pol . &ldquo;We had more problems than the others here. We need to work, but we know the bike is strong". Espargar&oacute;: "Changing tyres changes the whole way the bike works"  Like the Suzuki, then, the Honda also seems particularly sensitive to the change of carcass. Espargar&oacute; outlines why this is: "At Honda they&rsquo;re very good at building the bike. This means that when they design a bike, they do it based on a specific tyre, like those we saw during testing. So when the tyres change, it might seem like a small thing, but it&rsquo;s actually very big because when you change the tyres on a bike, you change the whole way it works. Honda has done well to build this RC213V, but this is something you can&rsquo;t control. We hope it doesn&rsquo;t happen again during the season&rdquo;. The difficulties are nevertheless not getting Espargar&oacute; down. "I see it as a weekend in which you fall and are disappointed&rdquo;, observes the Spaniard, seeing the glass half full. &ldquo;We head to Argentina now, with the tyres we need, the ones we used before coming here and that work well with our bike, because the bike is built for those tyres, not for the ones we used this weekend. We&rsquo;ll see what we can do in Argentina, but I&rsquo;m keen to get there and see how the Honda performs, because I was having a lot of fun before coming here". Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Puig: &ldquo;The best generation was that of Lorenzo, Stoner and Pedrosa&rdquo;       

After the race, the Spaniard explains why the difficulties with the RC213V can be attributed to the tyres Michelin brought to Mandalika

MotoGP, Espargaró: “The Honda is very strong, but not with 4-year old tyres”

        Pol Espargar&oacute;'s nineteenth-place finish in FP2 at Mandalika certainly doesn&rsquo;t reflect his potential, with the Spaniard having led the morning session ahead of Miguel Oliveira. But there is a technical explanation for his difficulties, the brakes forcing him back into the pits just as he put in a soft tyre to head out for a flying lap.&nbsp; Espargar&oacute; and the problem in FP2  &ldquo;When I came back in, I was very angry because I missed the chance to get into Q2 and if it rains tomorrow, this will be a problem&rdquo;, explains the Repsol Honda rider. &ldquo;The reason? I couldn&rsquo;t brake, the front brake wasn&rsquo;t working. Unfortunately it&rsquo;s a technical issue that can happen, but we need to understand why it happened&rdquo;. A setback that doesn&rsquo;t cancel out Pol&rsquo;s good impressions, the rider pleased with the work done to the Indonesian track: &ldquo;The new asphalt is OK, the conditions are better than they were in testing. It&rsquo;s not perfect, but they&rsquo;ve done a great job in a little over a month. The track has good grip, it&rsquo;s still dirty in some places but it&rsquo;s not too bad&rdquo;. Pol: "I&rsquo;m quick, Q2 is within reach"  As for the competitiveness of his RC213V, Espargar&oacute; says he feels comfortable in all conditions: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re at the same level as everyone else, in FP1 I set the best time and I feel good on both soft and medium tyres&rdquo;. &ldquo;Without that brake problem, I had the potential to finish top five. What matters is that I can push and set the kind of lap time I want. I hope it doesn&rsquo;t rain tomorrow, so I can improve and get through to Q2 - I have the speed to do it&rdquo;, concludes #44. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Marc Marquez: &ldquo;The mark on my arm? It&rsquo;s not the only one&rdquo;       

The Spaniard explains the technical problem that prevented him from entering Q2 at Mandalika

Indonesia GP, a furious Pol Espargaró: “I was without brakes in FP2”

        The Qatar MotoGP round is done and dusted and among the many topics of conversation is that relating to Honda, or specifically the Repsol Honda team, the factory squad. The two RC213 V bikes were clearly on display at Lusail, playing a starring role over the course of the weekend. And this is good news for the bosses in Tokyo of course - the bike is competitive and the riders are learning to fully exploit it. And how did the riders go in the barren Persian desert? Well, not badly at all in fact, with both finishing top five. But, more specifically, we can say that Espargar&oacute; did very well and Marquez well. Why very well and well? What separated the team-mates in practice, qualifying and the race was essentially the race result itself. Number 44 reached the third step of the rostrum &ndash; and battled for the win for a while &ndash; and the eight-time champion finished fifth, four seconds from winner Enea Bastianini. And so we can say that Pol did better than Marc. Pol Espargar&oacute;: "tried and tested" and ready to beat MM93  He&rsquo;s already done so of course, in Qatar. We know that Marc is still working to return to full physical fitness over race distance, the phase in which the riders come under most stress, although he says he didn&rsquo;t feel any arm pain over the race weekend. Pol, on the other hand, has real stamina. He&rsquo;s quick and showed this during testing at Sepang and Mandalika too, over the flying lap but particularly in terms of his race pace, during simulations. Brother Aleix (who also ran a great race on the Aprilia) pushed hard too, only dropping back in the final third of the race. It&rsquo;s also a question of tyres and so, considering a brand new RC213 V, third place shouldn&rsquo;t be seen as a disappointment; on the contrary, Pol was extremely strong, the best Honda rider in the mix. Marc aside, Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Marquez suffered. And that&rsquo;s why, taken from KTM and a little drained on arrival, number 44 is an asset to consider for the future. What if he were to become the HRC frontrunner? Contract to sign: Pol is hungrier than Marc  Hang on, we don&rsquo;t mean that Marc is not hungry. He is. But Pol has additional motivation. A contract, one that will expire at the end of 2022 and that should ideally be signed before the season finishes. And it will finish at Valencia, in exactly 20 races&rsquo; time. The Spaniard is in no hurry though. Yes, he wants to re-sign with HRC, confirming a contract as soon as possible but, at the same time, he&rsquo;s taking his time, aware of at least three things that are important to him. The first &ndash; he is great aboard the RC213 V. And not just good, as outlined above. Second &ndash; he has already done better than Marc, with a podium versus a first place. And third &ndash; they are often careful and conservative in Tokyo. Why throw away the good work and start over with a new and unknown entity? Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, we expected more of Suzuki in Qatar       

In Qatar, Espargar&oacute; did better than Marquez. Number 44 is making a direct attack on the eight-time champion, with the role of first HRC rider and a contract up for grabs

MotoGP, can Pol usurp Marc as Honda frontrunner?

        There's a lot of talk about possible new recruits at Honda, but perhaps they already have the best there is. Pol Espargar&oacute; has been strong in pre-season testing, particularly in Indonesia. While quick at Sepang, despite having to get to grips with new parts brought by HRC, he was even faster at Mandalika, both over the flying lap and during a race simulation. The RC213 finally seems to suit the number 44 rider&rsquo;s characteristics, after a tricky 2021 in which the pandemic and subsequent pauses in bike development conditioned everyone, but particularly the Japanese race department and its respective riders. And Pol, who came to the factory Repsol team after years aboard the rather different KTM, suffered as a result, the rider himself admitting that he only began to feel truly effective and comfortable on the bike during the second half of the season (or perhaps the final third), his second-place finish at Misano confirming this. A more malleable RC213 V  It may well have been the case that Honda stepped up its work on the four-cylinder upon realising that Marc Marquez is neither indestructible nor "highlander". The Japanese manufacturer would have already done so over the last two seasons, and did do so in fact, but the pre-agreed development breaks prevented the team from carrying out comparison tests in the field. And, in the knowledge that they can&rsquo;t, and shouldn&rsquo;t, count only and always on number 93, the HRC engineers have revised the project, making the bike more "malleable", or rather better able to adapt to, and be adapted by those riding it. Alex Marquez has confirmed his, as has Takaaki Nakagami, intent on scoring his first win in the reigning class. And Pol too has benefitted as a result. Already fast over the years &ndash; his Moto2 title in 2013 proof of this &ndash; the Spaniard is now in harmony with the RC213 V, powering it around both Sepang and Mandalika, two totally different tracks. And based on the long run he completed in Indonesia, Espargar&oacute; would have been in with a chance of a win in a hypothetical race scenario at that track. If Joan Mir arrives, what would Pol do?  The bike market plays a part in all this of course. Let&rsquo;s focus only on Honda, so as not to overload the bench. As we&rsquo;ve said, there have been hints that Joan Mir may join HRC. The two-time champ - Moto3 in 2017, MotoGP in 2020 &ndash; would take a factory seat, leaving the Suzuki that, in the meantime, is striking fear into the competition. Considering Marc Marquez is "untouchable&rdquo; until 2024, what would Pol do? Would he remain in the Japanese manufacturer&rsquo;s orbit, perhaps on the LCR team? Or would he swap with Mir and move to Suzuki? And if HRC were to hire Quartararo, a situation we consider here below? Well, in that case too, Pol would leave Repsol. The (suggestive) Quartararo hypothesis  Honda is looking around, that&rsquo;s clear. And Fabio Quartararo also has an eye out, less than satisfied with his Yamaha. The current champion complained during the Sepang tests, and then again at Mandalika. El Diablo&rsquo;s contract is up at the end of the year and, considering the situation, his only real alternative would be with the Repsol Honda outfit. Ducati has a string of youngsters on board and will soon confirm Pecco Bagnaia, before likely choose either Enea Bastianini or Jorge Martin for its factory team. KTM has its own in-house options and is not in the Frenchman&rsquo;s sights anyway. Aprilia and Suzuki are fast, but Fabio is looking for something else, or at least that&rsquo;s what he has us believing. As ever, it will be the results that determine who goes where. As well as the sponsors and other influences of course. But, if Pol were to prove successful, quicker and more consistent than Marquez, what would Honda do? Would they keep hold of him, or let him go, replacing him with Mir &ndash; the most likely - or Quartararo? If Espargar&oacute; were to run a great 2022 championship, it would be a pity to see him go. Don&rsquo;t you think, HRC? Translated by Heather Watson Mandalika, improvements ahead of the MotoGP round       

The potential arrival of Joan Mir and the Quartararo hypothesis would put the Spaniard at risk, just as he&rsquo;s getting fast with the RC213V. In case of standout results, would it be a good idea for HRC to let number 44 go?

MotoGP, Honda: a good idea to let Pol Espargaró ‘get away’?

        For years, we have witnessed Marc Marquez&rsquo;s domination with the Honda, a winning streak that was only broken when he hurt his shoulder in 2020. And that setback also brought the Japanese giant&rsquo;s golden moment to a standstill, the manufacturer having increasingly developed the bike to suit the Spaniard&rsquo;s needs, while its other riders struggled to adapt. The eight-time champion&rsquo;s injury set off an alarm bell that has seen Honda adopt a new philosophy. A positive first check  The Japanese factory began to develop a bike that can be ridden competitively by other riders too, those with a different riding style, and this move coincided with the arrival of Pol Espargar&oacute;. After a four-year relationship with KTM, the Spaniard was quick to accept the Tokyo manufacturer&rsquo;s offer, and 2022 has got off to a pretty good start for him. Sure, we&rsquo;re only talking about testing, but the younger Espargar&oacute; brother stood out at Sepang, clocking up the miles and setting an interesting pace. An encouraging start  If we look at the timesheets, he finished just behind his team-mate, less than a tenth off in fact, which could be indicative of the step forward that Honda has taken. Will it really be able to build a bike with strengths that can be exploited by riders other than Marc Marquez? For now, the signs on track are encouraging, but we&rsquo;ll have to see whether or not these are confirmed in the upcoming tests, and in the races of course. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Nakagami: &ldquo;This year&rsquo;s goal? Our first win&rdquo;       

It wasn&rsquo;t just Marc Marquez who was quick at the Sepang tests, his team-mate also hungry and getting on well with his new RC213V

MotoGP: Pol Espargaró also consistent – is Honda on the right track?

        The 2022 MotoGP season, which will get underway in Qatar in March, looks to be the year of truth for the Honda team. With Marc Marquez&rsquo;s injuries, the last two years have really put the Japanese to the test, but the manufacturer should also be able to count on Pol Espargar&oacute;, Alex Marquez and Takaaki Nakagami, at least in theory. Up until now, that hasn&rsquo;t exactly been the case, so what has gone wrong and what needs to change? Pol just barely &ldquo;saved&rdquo;: 2022 will reveal all  We start with the factory team of course. 2021 was Pol Espargar&oacute;&rsquo;s first season aboard the RC213V. A bike with which he initially clashed before gradually adapting to it. This came as no surprise, as the Honda has long proved to be a rebellious bike. And so Pol only confirmed this, although he was eventually able to find what appears to be a way forward (together with Marquez) during the end of summer tests and the last part of the season. His best result was second place at the Emilia Romagna round, although he also scored fifth place at Silverstone and sixth in the Algarve. Espargar&oacute; has clearly been trying, that&rsquo;s for sure, and has refused to give in despite the difficulties that he&rsquo;s faced in adapting to the new bike. In the absence of his team-mate, he&rsquo;s also tried to move forward with development, travelling in the same direction as the LCR riders in this regard. More than once, he has said that Honda needs a common path to follow in terms of developing the RC213V. It is also important to add that, for the first time, Pol found himself riding a bike he didn&rsquo;t know and he didn&rsquo;t even have his team-mate as a reference. A rider who has won &lsquo;just&rsquo; six MotoGP world titles with Honda. Would it have been better or worse for him to have Marquez in the garage? We have no crystal ball of course, but if Marc is fit and able to compete this season, we may get our answer and be able to see Espargar&oacute;&rsquo;s real potential. What is certain is that if the results fail to come, HRC will shake Pol&rsquo;s hand and bid him farewell come the end of the season. Also because it&rsquo;s just not on to have only one rider (in four) who is able to ride the bike. Honda needs a change of course, or it will &lsquo;crash&rsquo; once again  And the same goes for Lucio Cecchinello&rsquo;s team LCR. In 2020, with Marc Marquez out of the running, the Japanese focused their attention on Takaaki Nakagami. And then in 2021 there was also Alex Marquez, but both the Spaniard and the Japanese drew a blank. So who was to blame for this? The bike? The rider? The team? It&rsquo;s hard to say in a situation like this. Considering Pol Espargar&oacute;&rsquo;s difficulties, we can at least say that the RC213V didn&rsquo;t help. In fact, it caused the riders no end of headaches, but this essentially comes down to its development, which, without Marc Marquez, was taken&nbsp;in the wrong direction. Alex himself admitted this at the end of the season. But this isn&rsquo;t enough to &ldquo;exonerate&rdquo; the two riders for their poor results. 2022 will need to be the year of the turnaround, otherwise they too may find the door closed heading into 2023. Will the return of Marc Marquez be enough to give Honda its spark back? If he&rsquo;s in shape, then he&rsquo;ll surely score results, but HRC needs a strategy that sees it do away with supporting riders and focus instead on standout riders who can fight at the front. The path it has travelled until now is clearly not taking the manufacturer in the right direction. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP: Marc Marquez from two to&hellip; four wheels, his karting video       

If number 93 is able to compete this season, he&rsquo;ll surely obtain results, but Espargar&oacute;, Alex Marquez and Nakagami can no longer be supporting acts. Honda needs riders who can aim for the top... are these the right men for the job?

MotoGP: Marc Marquez is not enough, Honda needs a turnaround

The mood in the KTM and Honda camps is very different ahead of the final round of the season. While Miguel Oliveira is now fully recovered, HRC will count solely on Pol Espargar&oacute;, unlike the Portim&atilde;o round, where test rider Stefan Bradl was also on track.  KTM: Oliveira fit to race   The factory KTM team breathes a sigh of relief after the Portim&atilde;o shock (an accident caused by Iker Lecuona). Having monitored his condition throughout the week after visiting Portim&atilde;o hospital for checks, Miguel Oliveira has now passed the obligatory medical check-up required in order to be able to race. He will now return to his #88 RC16 for the final race of the season alongside team-mate Brad Binder.  Repsol HRC: all hopes on Pol Espargar&oacute;   Unlike what happened at Portim&atilde;o, where Stefan Bradl stood in for Marc Marquez, the Spaniard will not be replaced at the final round. And so the entire HRC weight will fall on the shoulders of Pol Espargar&oacute;, who will be doing his best to round out what has been a rather complicated season in a positive way.  HRC has confirmed that only Pol Espargar&oacute; will race this weekend, posting the update on its social media channels.  Translated by Heather Watson  MotoGP, Pol Espargar&ograve; speaks out: the Yamaha promises and the 2014 error 

The Portuguese KTM rider has passed his medical check-up and will be back in the saddle of his factory RC16, while the team headed up by Alberto Puig will field just one rider

MotoGP Valencia: Oliveira returns to the track, Honda to field just one rider

        Current HRC rider Pol Espargar&oacute; is essentially a MotoGP veteran, having competed in the category since 2014. He immediately scored strong results in his debut season with Herv&eacute; Poncharal&rsquo;s Team Tech3. The Suzuki mistake, one he didn&rsquo;t repeat with KTM  Now a few years down the line, the Spaniard reveals that he turned down an offer from Suzuki for the 2015 season, as he was hoping for a factory Yamaha ride, one that never came. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ve talked about this before. In my first year with Yamaha, I finished sixth in MotoGP, very close to Dovi who was fifth with the Ducati&rdquo;, recalls Pol in a MotoGP podcast. &ldquo;That was the year Suzuki was returning to MotoGP and I received an offer from them.&rdquo; &ldquo;But at the time I had promises from Yamaha, I was talking to them, imagining Valentino Rossi&rsquo;s possible retirement. After my first MotoGP season, which I finished top five, they said, &lsquo;Hang on, because maybe you&rsquo;ll move to the factory team&rsquo;&rdquo;. Unfortunately for Espargar&oacute;, that didn&rsquo;t happen: "My second year with the Yamaha didn&rsquo;t go so well, I had compartmental syndrome. I had surgery mid-season, it wasn&rsquo;t a great year, while Suzuki was scoring incredible results, they were starting to do really well&rdquo;. A mistake that Pol avoided in subsequent years, seizing the opportunity to move to KTM in 2017: &ldquo;They were a brand-new manufacturer in MotoGP but I said to myself, &lsquo;If they start to win and do well in the future, I might kill myself&rsquo; (he laughs). In the end we did just that, starting to score podiums and pole positions&rdquo;. The Honda challenge  In 2021, the youngest Espargar&oacute; brother took up the Honda challenge: "I have the same points as Nakagami, who&rsquo;s been riding the same bike for years. I&rsquo;m ahead of Alex Marquez, I&rsquo;m the second Honda in the standings. Clearly the results aren&rsquo;t good, and I&rsquo;m the first to critique my performance and work even harder. I&rsquo;m 100% sure that I&rsquo;ll get there. I have my experience in KTM, and if I was able to score results with a brand-new project, then I&rsquo;ll be able to do so in Honda too, I have no doubts&rdquo;, concludes an optimistic #44. Translated by Heather Watson MXGP: Jeffrey Herlings is 2021 World Champion!       

The Repsol Honda rider looks back at his career, revealing how he turned down an attractive offer in 2015. A decision that proved to be the wrong one

MotoGP, Pol Espargaró speaks out: the Yamaha promises and the 2014 error

        Marc Marquez returns to Misano with a battle plan. Something has changed since the last time he raced in Romagna, the Spaniard having scored his first &ldquo;full dry&rdquo; win of the season at Austin, and he doesn&rsquo;t want to stop now. The progress that #93 is making is also clear from the numbers, with Marc having finished top five in the last three races, results that include a podium at Aragon and the aforementioned US win, proof of a consistency we hadn&rsquo;t seen until now. &ldquo;We come back to Misano in a better situation - confirms #93 - each weekend we have been able to improve a little bit more. Now we start the last three races of the year so hopefully we can continue the trend of recent rounds and end the season well. Last race here I had a very funny battle with Miller and Mir so hopefully we can be fighting once again. Let&rsquo;s see what will happen, conditions could be quite different.&rdquo; Espargar&oacute;: "I have good potential"  Pol Espargar&oacute; is also ready to have his say, having scored a positive seventh-place finish last time out at Misano, although he was unable to do more than tenth in Austin. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s some good potential going into Misano, especially after the test where we were able to try more things. Everyone else has also had a lot of time in Misano so it&rsquo;s going to be a fast weekend from the start.&rdquo; Like Marquez, Espargar&oacute; knows the weather will once again be key: &ldquo;I think going there a few weeks later could change the situation with the temperature and the weather. Like always, we need to work from Friday.&rdquo; Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP Emilia-Romagna, Quartararo: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be thinking about the championship&rdquo;       

"I improve a little each weekend, but the conditions might be different this time". Espargar&oacute;: "Many will be quick right from the start, but I&rsquo;m ready"

MotoGP, Marquez: “I am stronger and ready to fight at Misano”

The world championship is heading back to one of those talisman tracks for Marc Marquez, one at which he dominated from 2013 to 2018. Only a mistake in 2019 prevented him from celebrating a seventh consecutive win at COTA, and this year he&rsquo;s not in ideal shape, but he is well on the way to regaining that old feeling with the Honda.  Marquez: &quot;I always have fun here&quot;   &ldquo;I am looking forward to Austin and we&rsquo;re arriving there after two good races&rdquo;, starts Marquez. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a layout that I like and in the past we have had a lot of success but this year is a little bit different with our situation arriving there. Like always, it&rsquo;s going to be important to build over the weekend and see where we line up on Sunday morning. No matter what it will be great to return because it&rsquo;s a round I always enjoy a lot&rdquo;. He likes the track and it&rsquo;s hard to not imagine him up in the leading group.  Polyccio is confident   Team-mate Pol Espargar&oacute; will also be aiming for a solid weekend: &ldquo;After a good test I am excited to head to Austin, it&rsquo;s a fun track to ride and it will be great to see some more MotoGP fans outside of Europe. We found a few things during testing in Misano and Austin will be a good place to try them because it&rsquo;s a circuit with a lot of variety. I&rsquo;ve had a few top tens there in the past so hopefully we can build on that base this weekend&rdquo;.  Translated by Heather Watson  Moto2: Aldeguer will finish the season with team SpeedUP 

At a track where Honda has won on six consecutive occasions with Marquez, the factory team is confident it can have a strong weekend

GP of the Americas, Marquez impatient: &ldquo;I arrive at Austin following two good races&rdquo;

        The title fight resumes this weekend in Austria with the Styrian GP. A favourable track for Ducati and KTM yes, but one at which Marc Marquez has often battled for the win in the past. The situation is a little different this year though, with Marquez still recovering from his injury, while Pol Espargar&oacute; continues to adapt to the RC213V. But the summer break may have benefitted both riders... &ldquo;I feel better and stronger&rdquo;  &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve enjoyed the summer break&rdquo;, comments Marquez. &ldquo;I was able to relax with friends and family and enjoy it. It was good not just for the mind, but also for the body and I am feeling better and stronger. I&rsquo;ve been able to increase my training, spending more time on bikes and even returning to riding motocross &ndash; which I am enjoying a lot!&rdquo; The eight-time champ continues: &ldquo;But we know the situation on track will still not be simple and we have to keep working and stay focused. I&rsquo;m looking forward riding my Honda RC213V again and having full grandstands again will be incredible.&rdquo; Training hard all summer  Pol Espargar&oacute; had this to say: &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s ride! It has been a long time away from the track and I am looking forward to returning to riding my Honda again. We&rsquo;ve been training hard over the whole summer and I am fully prepared physically for the final end of the year. The Red Bull Ring is a unique circuit with a lot of hard braking and accelerating, I think it can suit us. It looks like we will have full grandstands for the first time in Austria, I am so excited to see all the fans and hopefully we can see more people at more circuits soon. We didn&rsquo;t have the easiest start to the season, but it&rsquo;s time to keep our focus and show the potential we know we have.&rdquo; Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Valentino Rossi: &ldquo;The Red Bull Ring doesn't play to our strengths&rdquo;       

The Honda team is already thinking ahead to the Austrian race weekend, the two factory riders keen to get back on track. Pol Espargar&oacute;: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve trained hard all summer&rdquo;

MotoGP, Marquez: “The summer break has done me good, I feel stronger”

MotoGP is at Mugello this May weekend. All the reigning class riders are preparing accordingly, including the Repsol Honda team of course. At a track that is very physical, Marc Marquez will need to put his still recovering arm under strain, but Pol Espargar&oacute; will also need to perform during what is his first visit to Mugello aboard the RC213V. What will the two Honda riders be able to do?  &nbsp;Marc Marquez: &ldquo;It won&rsquo;t be easy&rdquo;  For Marc Marquez, Mugello has brought joy and pain. His win in 2014 and second-place finishes in 2016 and 2019 are highlights, while his high-speed crash in 2013 was a low of course, the rider sliding on the grass around San Donato and coming very close to the protective wall. It won&rsquo;t be an easy track for him, considering he&rsquo;s not yet 100% fit: &ldquo;I have had a good week to continue with the recovery process &ndash; comments Marc - We showed our potential in the wet in France and this weekend in Mugello we have to work well from Friday morning to try to be consistent and find good pace. I understand my physical limitations and know that it will not be the easiest of weekends to be close to the front in the dry. Now we arrive at two back-to-back races, which is a first for me this year. It will be more physically demanding, but we can manage it.&rdquo;  &nbsp;Pol Espargar&oacute;: &ldquo;We need to work well in practice&rdquo;  Pol Espargar&oacute; also talks about the Italian weekend: &ldquo;After not visiting the track in 2020 it will be nice to return to Mugello this year, riding a MotoGP bike down the straight there is something really unique. We will have to see how our bike is behaving there as it&rsquo;s a very different circuit to where we have been. There will be a lot of competition this weekend, but if we work well throughout practice, I think we can be there and fighting. Then we have another race in Barcelona straight after, it&rsquo;s going to be an exciting couple of weeks.&rdquo;  Translated by Heather Watson  MotoGP, Jack Miller shuts down the naysayers with a double win 

Together with team-mate Pol Espargar&oacute;, the Spaniard will need to work well from Friday. Pol: &ldquo;We need to see how the Honda will behave&rdquo;

MotoGP Italy, Marc Marquez anxious: &ldquo;I know my physical limitations&rdquo;

        The Le Mans race didn&rsquo;t go too badly for Honda rider Pol Espargar&oacute;, considering also the unstable weather. The Spaniard crossed the line eighth, just behind Takaaki Nakagami and in front of Iker Lecuona. But at the start of the race, the Spaniard, Morbidelli and Rossi came into contact, an incident that has sparked some debate. Who&rsquo;s right?  While Valentino blames Pol, saying that he was too aggressive, and Morbidelli views it as a routine race contact, what does Pol think? &ldquo;Morbidelli came up fast and made a mistake in braking, taking me off-line. I had Valentino on the outside and so I too forced him out&rdquo;. But in responding to journalists who told Pol that Rossi blamed him for the manouvre, the Spaniard said: &ldquo;I came across him in the paddock a short while ago, we talked and he seemed OK, he agreed with me. I don&rsquo;t know whether he said one thing to me but in fact sees it differently. As for as I&rsquo;m concerned, it was just a race contact&rdquo;. Various problems in the wet  Espargar&oacute; then summarised his race: &ldquo;I think the main problem we had in the race was the lack of grip, but we&rsquo;ll work to improve our situation ahead of the next race at Mugello. In the rain, our problems increased, our tyres didn&rsquo;t have enough grip to do any better than we did. If we look, Marc Marquez had two crashes, it&rsquo;s not an easy time for us. We have various ideas as to what to do&rdquo;. But the problems the RC213V suffered at Le Mans, with the strange track conditions, didn&rsquo;t end there: &ldquo;The suspension - adds Pol - but also the balance of the bike, and corner entry too. We need to analyse everything but I&rsquo;m sure that we&rsquo;ll be able to set-up the bike more effectively at Mugello. With dry track conditions, I felt good and had good feeling with the bike. I think we could have done better had the race been dry&rdquo;. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP: Casey Stoner&rsquo;s Ducati GP9 fairing up for auction       

While Valentino blamed Pol for the race contact, the Spaniard says it all started with Morbidelli. Who's right?

MotoGP France: Pol Espargaro contradicts Rossi re the race contact

        The MotoGP is set for action at Le Mans, the world championship riders ready to return to the track as of Friday. Among them, the two factory Honda riders Marc Marquez and Pol Espargar&oacute;. Their goals for the weekend may differ, but both are keen to do well. Marquez continues to recover  Marc Marquez comes to Le Mans having only returned to the championship in Portugal. So he&rsquo;s completed just two races after a nine-month absence. The Spaniard is still recovering, but he has won at the French track three times in the past (2014, 2018 and 2019): &ldquo;It has been a good week between races, I have been able to rest and continue my training and recovery. The goal for this weekend is to have less complications and continue working to improve. Step by step we are getting stronger and our goal is to continue the progress we have been making. The weather in Le Mans can always make things a little bit tricky but we will handle whatever happens.&rdquo; &ldquo;A podium in the wet last year&rdquo;  Pol Espargar&oacute; also comments ahead of the weekend, after the uncertainty of the Jerez round: &ldquo;The test we had on Monday was very helpful for me and the team, we tried many things and were able to understand more about the Honda. Last year we were able to finish on the podium in the wet at Le Mans, of course we would prefer it to be dry but the weather will be the same for everyone and it will give me an opportunity to try this bike in new conditions. The motivation is as high as always, I&rsquo;m excited for another weekend.&rdquo; Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP France, Mir: &ldquo;We need to survive&rdquo;       

The two Honda riders are preparing for the French race weekend. The forecast promises rain, but perhaps Marc and Pol could benefit from the wet conditions

MotoGP France, Marc Marquez: “I don't want to complicate my life”

        Pol Espargar&oacute; is the Honda mystery so far this season. Having coming from KTM to replace Alex Marquez, who moves across to LCR, number 44 has not yet found the confidence he needs to tame the RC213V. In the first three races of the season, the Spaniard has scored an eighth-place finish, a thirteenth place, and a DNF, not exactly results worthy of a factory HRC rider. A similar situation to that seen in 2019, when Jorge Lorenzo came to Honda with the intention of beating Marc Marquez, only to find himself dealing with crashes, mistakes and injuries. &nbsp;Miles under his belt After the Portim&atilde;o race, Pol himself explained the situation: &ldquo;To be competitive, I need more track time and experience. I&rsquo;m still understanding the bike and the tracks we&rsquo;ve raced at are not the best for me because they don&rsquo;t exactly suit the Honda&rdquo;, he says. &ldquo;I hope things change at Jerez, where we&rsquo;ll have more references. I&rsquo;ll try to do what I&rsquo;ve struggled to do thus far, or rather put together the various sectors and find a rhythm&rdquo;. A rhythm that a certain Marc Marquez is not lacking. Returning ninth months after his Jerez injury, he was immediately able to finish the Portimao race as the top Honda rider, crossing the line seventh, 13 seconds from winner Fabio Quartararo. A result he achieved without overdoing it, and enough to beat brother Alex (eighth) and Nagakami (tenth). How can a rider who&rsquo;s been out for months, even a phenomenon like Marquez, finish as the top Honda rider? The feeling is that they have a lot of work to do in Honda in order to develop the RC213V so that other riders can exploit it rather than only #93. We&rsquo;ve also seen disappointing performances by Alex Marquez, often in the gravel, and Takaaki Nagakami, unable to stick with the leading group at Losail and Portim&atilde;o. Patience Pol Espargar&oacute; needs time and confidence to cope with the return of the eight-time champion, the man to bet on, despite his period of inactivity. Pol isn&rsquo;t short on determination and patience, after all he waited four seasons to see the RC16 grow and start to score strong results. A similar pathway probably awaits him in Honda, but this is complicated by the presence of such an important team-mate who will attract the attention, development, and &lsquo;fixed-term&rsquo; patience of Alberto Puig. And when the phenomenon really begins to push, the pressure will only increase further. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP: Binder on top in Oliveira&rsquo;s &lsquo;den&rsquo;       

Among the various disappointments of this early part of the season is new HRC recruit Pol, who's struggling to get to grips with the Honda. A situation made more complicated by Marc Marquez&rsquo;s return

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