Pol Espargaro begins his Repsol Honda Team journey

Action returns as MotoGP testing gets underway in Qatar, Pol Espargaro enjoying his first contact with the Repsol Honda and Stefan Bradl making constant improvements.

Heavy winds swept across the Losail International Circuit as the first day of official testing began ahead of the 2021 MotoGP World Championship season. While much of the field waited for conditions to settle, the Repsol Honda Team were eager to make the most of the track time available.

Pol Espargaro was the first full-time rider out on track, eager to sample the Honda RC213V for the first time. Completing his instillation lap, Espargaro returned to the box for his first debrief and setup adjustments. Short runs would be the order for much of the day as the 2013 Moto2 World Champion adapted to life in Repsol Honda Team colours. Each lap saw Espargaro improve his time, settling on a best time of 1’55.878 after 68 laps aboard the Honda.

Times were not the focus of the day, Espargaro and his team working on getting comfortable on the bike and improving his feeling on the Honda RC213V.

Having had a successful day of running during the Shakedown the previous day, Stefan Bradl was back on track. The experienced German was fast from the off, leading the start of testing and retaining a position in the top three for the majority of running. Ending the evening second fastest, Bradl’s 1’54.943 was 0.256s shy of the top time.