MotoGP France: Pol Espargaro contradicts Rossi re the race contact

The Le Mans race didn’t go too badly for Honda rider Pol Espargaró, 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’s right?

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While Valentino blames Pol, saying that he was too aggressive, and Morbidelli views it as a routine race contact, what does Pol think? “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”.

But in responding to journalists who told Pol that Rossi blamed him for the manouvre, the Spaniard said: “I came across him in the paddock a short while ago, we talked and he seemed OK, he agreed with me. I don’t know whether he said one thing to me but in fact sees it differently. As for as I’m concerned, it was just a race contact”.

Various problems in the wet

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Espargaró then summarised his race: “I think the main problem we had in the race was the lack of grip, but we’ll work to improve our situation ahead of the next race at Mugello. In the rain, our problems increased, our tyres didn’t have enough grip to do any better than we did. If we look, Marc Marquez had two crashes, it’s not an easy time for us. We have various ideas as to what to do”.

But the problems the RC213V suffered at Le Mans, with the strange track conditions, didn’t end there: “The suspension - adds Pol - but also the balance of the bike, and corner entry too. We need to analyse everything but I’m sure that we’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”.

Translated by Heather Watson

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