Aleix Espargaró, who finished 18th in the Spanish GP Sprint race, highlighted Honda’s significant progress, considering it the team that evolved the most compared to the previous season.
The Catalan test rider analyzed the current MotoGP landscape after the race in Jerez, offering an optimistic perspective on his team’s development.
When asked about what surprised him the most during the weekend, Espargaró was direct: ‘Not much. I think the championship is more or less what I live with last year. The Ducati is on top. I think the Honda has been the one who improved the most because, once again, I know the rest doesn’t shine, but Joan finished five seconds away I think, from fourth, so I think eight seconds are just from chattering.’
The experienced rider showed confidence in Honda’s potential, suggesting that without the vibration problems, performance would be substantially better: ‘Without this chattering, he could be fighting the podium. No doubt about. So I think the Honda has improved the most,’ he stated with conviction.
Espargaró also commented on his competitors, particularly highlighting the pole position achieved by Fabio Quartararo: ‘The level is very high, especially at Ducati guys that the lap times they did. Obviously, Fabio Quartararo’s pole position today, it’s amazing. I was very, very happy for Fabio. But Fabio, I think he did five pole position here in Jerez, his super.’
Despite recognizing Honda’s progress, the Catalan rider noted that the general landscape of the championship remains essentially unchanged: ‘More or less everything is the same,’ he concluded, underlining Ducati’s continuity as the dominant reference in MotoGP.