KTM hero Pol Espargaro (9th): What he changed to go faster

The MotoGP world was left thoroughly impressed on Friday afternoon at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Pol Espargaró finished the closely contested session in 9th place, setting his fastest lap time just behind Pedro Acosta. Espargaro thus secured a place in Saturday’s coveted Q2 – he was just over 0.5 seconds off the fastest time set by Misano’s top rider, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia).

After the celebrations and the initial analysis, the 35-year-old was naturally bombarded with questions – the press were astonished and wanted answers. How can a test rider perform so well under the pressure of qualifying? After all, regular riders such as Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder had failed to make the top 10 on their RC16s. Espargaro, however, immediately admitted that he had copied Pedro Acosta’s riding style.

Seating position on the RC16 changed

But there’s more to this sensation than meets the eye, as Espargaro explained: “The category changes year on year. The way I used to ride the bike doesn’t work anymore. I realised this in Aragon and, between Aragon and here in Misano, I changed the spacers on the fuel tank to sit a little further back on the bike. I’ve never made any changes to the fuel tank before. This is the first time in my career that I’ve done something like this in this area.”

Why was this done? “We realised that it helps with braking on our bike. And it also improves traction. I used to ride with an enormous amount of pressure on the front wheel. You have to change the way you brake and how you take the corners and lines. And the best way to ride fast is still to copy the best riders – and that’s Pedro!”

According to Espargaró, there’s another aspect to consider: “From 2025 until now, we’ve significantly reduced the downforce on the bike. We’ve reduced the front wings and removed those ‘Dumbo wings’ from the swingarm. When you lose that much downforce, you have to change your riding style too. But these are things you only really realise when you’re riding. Let’s see if I can keep it up on Saturday as well.”

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31.10.2026 - 01:35