2023-10-17 18:16:03
Dorna’s refusal to give KTM more places in the MotoGP World Championship already has a direct cause: Pol Espargaró’s premature goodbye to the championship. The Granollers rider has had no choice but to give in so that the Pierer Group – owner of KTM, Husqvarna, GASGAS, etc. – can raise Pedro Acosta to MotoGP next season, thus unblocking a situation that seemed like almost impossible to solve if the Austrians did not manage to increase their number of prototypes on the grid.
Carmelo Ezpeleta already made his position clear last summer; The Catalan manager insisted that the premier category can work perfectly with the 22 bikes currently on the grid, and in the case of wanting to expand the number of prototypes – until 2022 there were 24 riders registered -, Those places will only go to a new manufacturer “like Kawasaki or BMW” declared Ezpeletanot very favorable to continue adding more satellite teams to the championship.
In the specific case of Pol, the fact that KTM is forced to continue operating four motorcycles in 2024 has forced the premature goodbye of the #44 to his professional activity as a regular MotoGP rider; The Catalan will continue working for the Pierer Group in different areas, both in the development of the RC16 and in the supervision of the drivers who are promoted from the smaller categories, and is confident that the wildcards and substitutions that he will make throughout from 2024 They help him maintain his speed, thinking about a hypothetical return to the grid in 2025.
In Indonesia, Pol said “understand that Pierer Mobility Group wants more motorcycles on the track”, but remembered that “it’s not that easy” given the demands that Dorna asks when registering new teams. “You can’t expect that everything you want, you’re going to get. There is a process, and you have to go through it”, recalled the one from Granollers, who also revealed that “Personally, it is clear that the Pierer Mobility Group deserves more places in the category.”
The 32-year-old pilot pointed out that there is “another manufacturer (Ducati) that has eight motorcycles on the track, and is right now the best manufacturer at the moment”and he was convinced that the superiority of those from Borgo Panigale is due, above all,, “because they have those eight motorcycles on the track”, which allows them to progress much faster between sessions.
For the youngest of the Espargaró family, this situation “it is not fair for the other manufacturers and for all the drivers”and thinks that “The championship would change a lot if some of the Ducati guys were on another bike. So looking at it like that, I think if the Pierer Mobility Group had another seat, it would be fair,” he qualified.
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Finally, the still GASGAS Factory Team rider also said he understood the reason why Dorna does not want KTM to be able to deploy more prototypes on the grid: “I understand that, from a championship point of view, Don’t let any other manufacturer be in the position that Ducati is in now because they have an advantage, I think it’s also fair.”concluded Pol Espargaró.
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