Pol Espargaro: Slide control “didn’t catch” my Hungary highside

Balaton Park was the second event to feature MotoGP’s stability control function within the unified ECU system.

The new technology is designed to help prevent highsides that would previously slip through the net of conventional traction control.

While some riders have voiced concerns that the system will become a performance rather than a safety aid, Tech3 KTM stand-in Pol Espargaro is supportive of the move.

However, he warned that calibration work remains after suffering a violent Turn 8 highside in qualifying, the type of incident the technology is intended to avoid.

"MotoGP took too long to use it"

“Yeah, that was big! I was not expecting this one,” Espargaro admitted.

“Because we are using this new [stability control] system that catches the lateral [slide]. 

"This is something that the street bikes are using already. And [MotoGP] took too long to use it, to be honest.

“It's not helping the riders so much. It's just avoiding these kind of crashes, like the one I had, a long highside that the normal TC does not catch.

“But [the stability control] didn't catch it too! So actually it was a good test.

“That's why I'm here, to test. And I tested the dark side of this control as well! So let's see if we can improve it for the guys.”

Although the new feature was made available in the latest ECU update, it is still up to the teams to calibrate how they want it to be used on their particular bikes.

As they continue to build up knowledge and data, some teams are thought to only be using it during parts of practice sessions.

Stability control wouldn't have saved Vinales

Espargaro went on to finish tenth (Sprint) and eighth (GP) during the Hungarian MotoGP races, where he was riding as an injury replacement for Maverick Vinales.

Vinales, who damaged his shoulder in a wet highside before the summer break at Sachsenring, doesn’t believe stability control would have prevented his accident.

“I don't think so, because it was off gas,” Vinales said in Austria. “It was a typical crash in the wet with a cold tyre, just an off-gas highside. 

"I don't think [stability control] will avoid these types of crashes, where there is no electronics [involved].”

A recent example cited, where stability control might have made a difference, was Francesco Bagnaia's scary accident in front of the field in the opening turns of the 2023 Catalunya Grand Prix.

MotoGP returns to Barcelona, for the 2025 event, this weekend.