Pol Espargaro “riding like an old man” at “super-physical” Misano MotoGP

Pol Espargaro was “riding the bike like an old man”, he says, at the Misano MotoGP, where the race proved to be “super-physical”.

Espargaro was riding in his third race of his current stint replacing Maverick Vinales at Tech3 KTM and finished 14th after a standout performance on Friday to finish in the top-10 in Practice.

By the end of the race, the weekend had taken its physical toll on Espargaro, who felt he had enough energy for the Sprint distance on Saturday, but not for the last third of the full-distance race on Sunday.

“I'm so tired,” Pol Espargaro said after the Misano MotoGP.

“I think the last eight laps were too much for me. If it would be another race, like the Sprint, I would be competitive. 

“But from that on my right arm, I start to struggle, [...] my back, I start to struggle riding the bike like an old man. 

“I'm happy overall the weekend to be competitive in one lap, in a Sprint race. 

“So in a Sprint, this time, I'm really competitive, same as Brad [Binder] and Enea [Bastianini]. But from that on, I struggle with the physical conditions and also, you know, technically how to ride the bike. It's difficult.”

Espargaro explained that the high grip of the Misano track makes it one of the most physical races on the calendar.

“The extra grip makes the bike super-physical,” he said. 

“For example, the other side of this thing is Barcelona. 

“Barcelona is really low grip and you get zero tired. You don't get even tired, and this one [Misano] is so grippy and you get so tired. 

“When the track is so grippy, it makes that you go on the limit in every acceleration, the G-forces are extremely high in the brakes, on the change directions, the fast cornering – 11, arriving to 12, 13, brake, all this big and heavy weight into corner 14. It makes life so hard.”

Espargaro was asked if the injury he had at the start of the season was still affecting him now in terms of his overall fitness, having missed training time earlier in the year, as well as time on the bike testing KTM’s 850cc bike for 2027.

“I think it's a combination of many things,” the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider responded.

“You know, like I did not have the preseason to build up good physical conditions. The fact that I'm not riding often and I don't know the things happening on the bike when the tyre is 20-laps-old. 

“I'm super anxious in the first lap because I'm super on the limit. 

“Trying to follow them [other riders], I get more tired and there are many, many factors that are involved. 

“But anyway, the thing is that I'm getting old – I'm 35 and I'm fighting against guys [who are] 25. This is the point. 

“Honestly speaking, I feel like I'm more tired than I should be. Even if I train, I believe it's hard. 

“So my respect to Marc Marquez and Johann Zarco.”