Espargaro: ‘I was p****d off’ after losing the rear brake, ‘faster than Marc…’

In his two seasons at Repsol Honda, Espargaro had very few moments where he looked like the rider that challenged for podiums consistently during his final year at KTM, although one of those moments did come at last season’s MotoGP season-opener in Qatar. 

A performance that nearly saw him take victory, Espargaro out-performed his team-mate at the time Marquez, before gradually losing ground as the season wore on. 

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Espargaro, who adapted his riding style with KTM to enable a heavy use of the rear brake, was able to deploy such a technique at times with Honda, although not throughout an entire campaign, which is why the impressive performances we saw weren’t able to be carried out with any type of longevity.

Speaking ahead of the Sepang MotoGP test which begins on Friday, Espargaro detailed why he needs the rear brake: “One of the things I need the most to ride the bike is the rear brake. I need to stop the rear with the rear brake. Actually, in KTM now there are quite a lot of [former] Ducati engineers and also engineers coming from other places. With these new era bikes, you can not handle everything on the brakes with the front, so you need to help the bike a lot. 

“The rider doesn’t just need engine brake but also the rider needs to use the pedal on the rear brake. I got used to doing that on the KTM and I do that naturally now. The problem in the last two years is that I couldn’t use the rear brake.

“I always say, instead of riding with the right hand, ride with the left hand. You can do it as well but not as fast and not with the same confidence. This is what happened to me. Sometimes I could ride fast. In the pre-season I could use so much the rear brake but then I lost it slowly again and then my results went down. 

“Actually, in the pre-season and beginning of the year I was faster than the others. I could use the rear brake and they were not used to it. I was faster than Marc [Marquez] in the pre-season and in Qatar as well because I could use the rear brake and they were not used to. 

“They were checking my data and saying we need to re-learn how to ride the bike but then slowly I lost that and they gained - I was pissed off with that. 

“In GASGAS the situation is different. The bike is riding with the rear brake on the entry to corners. I like that. The front becomes less stressed. Ducati engineers say this is the way.” 

MotoGP more physical than ever

Although MotoGP bikes have become harder to ride through natural development, the new Sprint race format for 2023 is also a major reason as to why that’s becoming the case.

While the mental aspect of racing is expected to be more important than ever this season due to qualifying and two races taking place at every round, so is the physical aspect which is why Espargaro has changed his training methods.

"The category is getting more and more physical and I think, especially this year, the category is going to change a lot compared to previous years," added Espargaro. 

"Double races every weekend and with one Sprint race per weekend it means the training program has, in my case, changed quite a lot. 

"For example, if last year one lap was important on the qualifying then now it’s doubly important because you start twice on that lap, plus one of those races is a Sprint race so it means you need to be really quick in a short time. 

"In my case I changed quite a lot the way of training. I tried to gain a couple of kilos of muscle just to be faster in that lap and to handle the bike as best as possible in those laps."

Espargaro also believes that he’s needed to make such changes due to the fact that he is one of the oldest riders on the grid, albeit the Spaniard is only 31.  

"As I’m getting older I’m discovering how to be better." added the GASGAS KTM rider. "When you are young you just go to places, like here, I was going to Malaysia and saying let’s see what happens because the physical condition, the body was there. 

"You can handle more or less all the situations but when you are getting older, even if I’m only 31 - it’s not 50 - but I already feel a couple of changes, especially in the recovery. 

"You need to take everything much more seriously: nutrition, physical condition and supplementation as well. If you go to my office it’s full of shit, full of things to try and be a little bit better. 

"Also, it’s nice because I’m a guy who likes to know myself every year. I’m lucky that Red Bull is helping us so much. We have the Red Bull athletes centre and they help us quite a bit to improve ourselves."