Espargaro: I’m slow, we are slow and the bike is not working, it’s frustrating

Espargaro suffered his fourth DNF of the 2022 MotoGP season after being collected in a turn one pile-up in Misano. 

The Repsol Honda rider, who started down in 19th on the grid, positioned himself on the outside of Michele Pirro before Johann Zarco wiped the pair out. 

However, Zarco was forced into his crash after being hit by Brad Binder on the inside - a four-rider clash that resulted in the KTM rider being the only one to remain aboard his machine.

And while Espargaro placed some of the blame on Binder for being very ‘aggressive’, the Spaniard said the turn one incident is more of a reflection about Honda’s current level.

Speaking to MotoGP.com, Espargaro added: "For sure, it’s everything in our hands. Starting in the back you have more trouble. It was not our fault. 

"We have first been taken out by Brad [Binder] - he entered a little bit too fast into the first corner but there’s nothing wrong with it. It was just aggressive and then he pushed out Johann [Zarco] who then pushed out Pirro and then he pushed me out. 

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"I mean we can complain about everything but at the end of the day we were starting almost last from the qualifying and we are not fast enough. This is the main thing."

Espargaro ‘in the best moment of his career’

While it may not look like it based on his results in 2022, Espargaro feels as though he’s in the best moment of his career from a physical and psychological point of view.

As is also the case for fellow Honda riders Takaaki Nakagami and Alex Marquez, results in 2022 have been dreadful by Honda’s standards. However, the biggest reason for this is Honda’s lack of performance which has been far from what they or the riders expected.

Outside of the season-opening podium by Espargaro in Qatar and Marc Marquez managing to squeeze out two top tens from the six races he competed in before shoulder surgery, Honda have largely been nowhere, with their performance gradually getting worse as the year has gone on. 

An angry Espargaro added: "I can push whatever I want but I’m slow, we are slow and the bike is not working so what can I do? 

"I want to be the fastest guy on the grid. I’m in the best moment of my career psychologically and physically but it’s super frustrating because I cannot take profit of this. 

"Today’s result is because we are not in the position we should be. We can complain about the others but we need to focus on ourselves and try to do better on Saturdays. 

"We need to be faster in qualifying and then the races are going to be much easier. If we start in the front nobody is going to touch you and we should be in that position."