Pol Espargaro has revealed that his surprise Q2 appearance at MotoGP Misano was thanks to an unexpected assist from Pedro Acosta and Marc Marquez. The KTM test rider described the pair as "the present and future of MotoGP".
Espargaro, standing in for the injured Maverick Vinales, had qualified 21st and 20th in his previous two outings. But at Misano, he shocked by finishing ninth in Friday Practice, less than 0.2s behind KTM's fastest rider Acosta.
"It was crazy!" Espargaro said of his Q2 feat. "On the first time-attack, it was impossible for me to improve. I told my technician, 'It feels so fast and dangerous.' I felt over the limit all the time."
But then, with Acosta ahead, everything changed. "Thanks to him, I did what I did. And in front of Pedro was Marc... I said, 'Oh God, save me!' And then I could make it. An amazing feeling."
Espargaro explained that the benefit of following another rider depends heavily on who is ahead. "Pedro brakes so late, but is so smooth and nice on his lines. You just need to copy. If you have someone in front who might make a mistake, it doesn't help. That happened to me at Aragon. I didn't make a good lap until I was behind Fabio Quartararo. Because he was smooth, braking on the limit, opening the lines, and being super nice with the bike."
Beyond the influence of other riders, Espargaro also revealed a significant change to his riding position. "I figured out that riding how I normally ride was not useful anymore. I changed my tank spacers to put me a bit more backwards. It's the first time in my career. It helps on stopping and traction."
Changes to KTM's aero package also forced him to adapt. "From last year to this year, we took out a lot of downforce. We reduced the front and rear wings. We removed the 'Dumbo ears' on the swingarm. When you reduce so much downforce, the way of riding needs to change. I needed to copy someone, and I chose Pedro, the fastest. It worked out, so let's see tomorrow."
Meanwhile, fellow KTMs of Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder finished Friday Practice in 11th and 15th respectively. Espargaro will be hoping to carry his form into qualifying and the race.
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