After securing his main objectives with KTM, despite not getting to win a race, Pol Espargaro made a surprising change back in 2021 after accepting Honda’s invitation to ride at MotoGP. The rider recalled how Honda is… Honda, and that the fact he would have Marc Marquez by his side was also important to make his decision.
After some years with KTM, from it’s start until it becoming a very competitive bike, Espargaro felt it was time to make a change, and what team better to do that than Honda and to be side by side with Marquez?! His decision was taken fast, has he told Motosan: ‘I did those years at KTM, I worked my ass off for them, we all worked really hard. But there came a time when I say: «Okay, I was signed to take this bike to the top five in the championship». I finished fifth, tied on points with the fourth. I’ve kept my part of the bargain, and now I want to start a new chapter. And then Repsol Honda came along. Factory Ducati is the shit, Factory Yamaha is the shit. But it’s not Repsol Honda. And even though I knew the bike was not going well, to be next to Marc Marquez at Repsol Honda is incredible, you can’t say no‘.
Still, it wasn’t easy to be riding a bike that was already showing signs of being far from their most competitive package: ‘I suffered a lot, but I never regretted the decision I made. At that moment I believed it was the decision I had to make, and if I were back at that moment, I would have chosen the same thing. Because I believed in that project, I wanted to do that. If I hadn’t taken that path, maybe I would have something inside me that would say «why didn’t you do it?»’.