Pol Espargaro: “You need to somehow stop the bike in a different way”

KTM test and wild-card rider Pol Espargaro has given an insight into the prototype RC16 he and Dani Pedrosa have been developing during 2024.

Espargaro made his latest wild-card appearance at the San Marino MotoGP round before handing the prototype to KTM race riders Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta for the Monday test.

Speaking before that outing, Espargaro revealed it had been “a long time” since he had ridden with the current 2024 bikes, revealing he and Pedrosa are looking further into the future.

“With Dani, we have different lines of working [from the race team],” Espargaro said.

“There is not so much sense to do wild-cards with the same bike they are using [now]. Because we need to figure out other things, discover other problems, to be better.”

Espargaro added: “The bike I’m racing with is not 100% going to be the future. It’s just a bike with different setups, different aero, different parameters on the engine.

“But at the end of the day, they need to choose. And it's important that they try it on Monday to reconfirm that our work in the test team is fine and they like it.”

After riding the prototype at the Monday test, Binder said:

“The character of the bike’s quite a bit different. Everything's a lot more calm, like it's super, super chill. It feels so weird. Feels like it's not going anywhere but then when you look [at the lap times] it is!”

The Espargaro/Pedrosa prototype not only appears visually different - thanks to some radical swingarm aero - but sounds different, due to what appears to be a revised cylinder firing order.

“You said engine spec. I didn't say so!” dodged Espargaro. “It’s the full package [of changes].”

A podium finisher for Yamaha, Honda and KTM during his full-time career, Espargaro highlighted 'stopping' as one specific area of attention.

“During the races, a problem that all the manufacturers are facing is especially the stopping," he said.

“Because the front tyre gets super high in temperature, high in pressure [behind other bikes], so you need to somehow stop the bike in, let's say, a different way.

“We are working on that, different electronics, aero as you can see - some of it is pretty obvious - and also on the engine side, we are doing a pretty good job.”

Acceleration is another key area, while Espargaro explained there isn’t one definitive 2025 prototype, but multiple combinations of new parts, some of which could be fitted to the 2024 race bikes for the final rounds.

“Monday is also important because the guys need to try different things on their current bikes," he said.

Acosta, who will join Binder in the factory KTM team next year, was fast throughout the Monday test on his way to fourth place, behind three Ducatis.

The current Tech3 rider, who tried three different bikes, confirmed that he is still looking for improvements to the ’24 machine.

“We tried many aero stuff, we tried electronic combinations. Because it doesn't matter if I go fast with the new [2025] bike, if I need to end the season with the one that I have,” he said.

“It's true that we tried many things for next season, but also a lot of stuff that can help us for this season.”

After two grand prix podiums in the opening three rounds, Acosta had to wait until Aragon, round 12, to stand on a Sunday rostrum again.

Espargaro thinks it’s unrealistic to expect a rookie to fight for victory at every race in the current MotoGP era.

“Pedro performed very good at Aragon,” Espargaro said. “He had bad moments, but as a rookie, it's normal. It's a progression. You cannot expect a rookie coming into the category to be [straight] on the top in this era.

“In the past it was normal because there were just four bikes fighting for the victory. But now you can fight with one of the eight Ducatis, and then a lot of our bikes are competitive.

“I would say it's more difficult now than in the past. For me it's harder what he's doing now than in the past.

“So we cannot expect to have him winning and fighting for the victory every race, and also because I have to say that unluckily our bike is not at the level of Ducati at the moment. We wish it will be in the future.

“So what he's doing with our bike, it's impressive.”

Acosta and Binder head into this weekend’s second Misano round separated by just nine points in a battle for fifth place and top non-Ducati in the world championship standings.