The fact that Pol Espargaro is just 10th in the 2022 title after 3 races is “difficult,” according to the Spaniard, because “the speed is there” with the latest Honda.
Over many years of struggling, Honda revamped their MotoGP package for 2022, with the current RC213V being more rear biassed to help with the traction it previously lacked.
This has aided Espargaro’s competitiveness on the bike, with the Spaniard battling for win at the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix before coming third.
However, he has battled in the rain in Indonesia, finishing 12th, and crashed out of the podium race in the Argentina GP previous weekend, putting him with only 20 points out of a potential 75.
Espargaro took heart in the idea that he is unlikely to encounter worse grip circumstances at any other track this year after his dismal race in Argentina.
“The positive is that these are the worst conditions we will face all year,” he said.
“It’s impossible to find worse conditions across the world [than at Termas de Rio Hondo], so in these conditions in the worst moments of my feelings we are in the top five.
“The speed is there, but in three races with good speed we are just 10th in the championship. It’s painful, it’s disappointing.”
Espargaro feels he could have finished fifth if he had kept up right in Argentina, but a loss of rear grip at Termas caused him to struggle underneath acceleration and highly stressed the front under braking, resulting in his Turn 2 accident.
“Yeah, I’m disappointed,” he added. “We were not fast enough during all the weekend, but even like that we were doing an OK race – fourth, following Alex [Rins].
“I think as maximum bad we would have finished P5, and this is not bad at all given how we struggled and the bike is not work as in the test.
“We are struggling quite a lot with the rear grip on entry, but for sure here it was massively better with this casing of this year.
“But even like this I couldn’t end the race. I tried to recover all the time to Rins on the brakes and finally I ended up on the floor.”
Honda confirmed on Wednesday that Espargaro’s partner Marc Marquez will compete in this weekend’s Americas GP after skipping Argentina due to visual concerns.
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